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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SPP Ottawa, post: 1868304, member: 39508&quot;]I am not sure about the US - but in Canada, you need certification to operate the hand-held device shown in this thread, because you can directly expose yourself to the X-Ray beams (which is an Iridium source). I do use those hand held devices in the field, but depending on the model, beam source and detector, you can get a wild range with various elements, including erroneous platinum, molybdenum and titanium readings (peak interference in the software, that interprets the detector readings). Drop me a line if you want a published paper on this very topic. How does this relate to coins?? A dealer in Canada is try to sell &quot;titanium alloy error two dollar coins&quot;, from mint sets that have a lighter coloured core - but after a little digging, I discovered they tested the coin on an old Russian-built XRF. Titanium alloys are used in XRF devices, to shield and protect against radiation - some of the beam was attenuated by the inside of the vessel itself, giving up to 2% titanium results (erroneous). The fight continues with said dealer...</p><p><br /></p><p>I am lucky to have some very expensive &quot;toys&quot; in my lab at work, including a much more powerful XRF and semi-quantitative SEM. For anyone dealing in a lot of bullion,&nbsp; my advice would be to invest in a decent bench-top XRF, whereby the beam is enclosed during the testing, with a locked lid, and risk of exposure is nil. The beam source in these bench top models is more powerful and the detectors are superior. I have one of these sitting on my desk at work - perfect for lunchtime testing of coins struck on &quot;mystery planchets&quot; and other errors (see photo).[ATTACH=full]315089[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.olympus-ims.com/en/xrf-xrd/mobile-xrf/x-5000/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.olympus-ims.com/en/xrf-xrd/mobile-xrf/x-5000/" rel="nofollow">http://www.olympus-ims.com/en/xrf-xrd/mobile-xrf/x-5000/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>For heavily clad items, or like those drilled-and-tungsten-filled gold bars, even the most powerful XRF machines can&#039;t really do much. You have to trust your precision scale, and other available tools (e.g., magnet).</p><p><br /></p><p>/my two cents... (but since Canada got rid of the penny, and we round down/up to the nearest 5-cents, this might not add up to much!)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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