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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gxseries, post: 418665, member: 4373&quot;]Oddly enough, pyrite is usually extracted for it&#039;s sulfur, not iron although with the higher iron prices these days, I&#039;m sure iron is also throughly refined out from the process. </p><p><br /></p><p>The only reason I can think of why coins aren&#039;t struck in pyrite is due to sulfur content - sulfur in most processes is a no-no as the usual result from sulfur reacting with water and oxygen creates a nasty sulfuric reaction. I&#039;m sure there are chemists around this forum to confirm if this is right or not. </p><p><br /></p><p>This does not mean that metals of such hardness aren&#039;t attempted for coin striking. Kazakhstan has successfully struck coins in tantalum which has a hardness of 6.5 or 7? (can&#039;t remember off the top of my head), only to be exceeded by rhenium and tungsten. Niobium, osmium and iridium might be in the list as well but I&#039;m not too sure.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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