Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 4579688, member: 19463&quot;]As it was explained to me:&nbsp; The low silver/high copper blank would be soaked in an acid bath which would eat away the surface copper and leave the silver as a honeycomb network which would be smashed flat into a more or less continuous and thin layer of higher silver content than the core of the coin starting a fraction of a millimeter under that surface.&nbsp; I have heard this called &#039;pickling&#039;.&nbsp; A little wear or corrosion would soon break through to where toning of the copper underneath would make the coin look darker than it did when the coin was struck.&nbsp; It would seem That the length and strength of the acid bath would vary making some coins have a few microns more silver surface than others but it all would have little or no effect on the amount of silver in the entire coin.&nbsp; I have no idea how many coins were treated in this manner.&nbsp; Compared to silver washing as done later, the surface enrichment process would require a higher amount of core silver than simple plating but the attachment of the silver to what was below would be stronger and not peel away in patches as is common on the silver washed coins.&nbsp; I do not have a link to offer with a scientific confirmation of what I have said but might suggest searching under &#039;surface enrichment&#039; as a start.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1134074[/ATTACH]</p><p>I might add that the preferential dissolving of copper from the surface of low silver alloy coins when being cleaned after discovery in modern times might have a similar effect as doing this as part of the flan preparation process.&nbsp; I have no idea how to separate coins treated with the acid bath in antiquity before striking from this cleaned in this manner.&nbsp; It would seem quite possible that some coins got both treatments.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in