I haven't seen a thread on this study yet. Apologies if I've overlooked one. Upshot: Roman gold in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th centuries was remarkably pure and stable, if the limited sample can be trusted. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/features/...d-roman-coin-study-reveals-thriving-empires-0
I saw a version of this story earlier today. It's really not about the coins but the technology, which allows non-destructive analysis of the whole coin, not just the surface. Interesting stuff. As an aside, this highlights one rationale for keeping hoards intact if possible. One can't know what new technologies may come along that offer new avenues of investigation.
I submitted 22 coins to be analyzed using a scanning electron microscope as part of my master's thesis, The initial result was that the coins were moistly silicon. We decided that I needed to clear a small section of the surface contaminants (sand). I used a very small jewelers file and filed into the side edgewise and the results were much better. if you are interested it's the first appendix...scroll down to pg 115 chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.constantinethegreatcoins.com%2FCONSTANTINE_THE_GREAT_THE_COINS_SPEAK.Pdf&clen=2558134&chunk=true my thesis was that old demonetized coins were melted down and used for the unofficial issues, which seemed to be true almost all the time
Gavin, Thanks for sharing this interesting article . Muonic X-ray emission spectroscopy sounds like a real breakthrough for the study of numismatics & archaeology. Before any conclusion can be drawn concerning the purity of Roman gold coins, many more samples other than the 3 coins tested are needed .
