[Jewelry making - Article 00729] - Re: [Orchid] Ancient coin technology

[tjbuggey]

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    Hello, If I might step in heRe: Here are some overviews of ancient
    minting techniques that are available on the internet: 

	http://www.culture.gr/nm/presveis/Pages/info/Reference/Production1.html
	http://www.pcgs.com/articles/article1350.chtml
	http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/ccindex/ccindex.htm
	http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/7551/MintProcess.htm

    And an article, if you can find it. American Numismatic Society
    Museum Notes, Volume 32, 1987. Composition and Technology of Ancient
    and Medieval Coinages: a Reassessment of Analytical Results, C.
    Morrisson, J. Barrandon, C. Brenot. 

    The most cited work on ancient coin minting processes is Wayne
    Sales' Ancient Coin Collecting Volume 1, which I believe one can get
    for about $20 at Amazon or the like. 

    The metallic composition of coins varied widely. Bronze alloy Coins
    of Amisos, Pontos on the southern coast of the Black sea have a gold
    look to them and often have no patina. This was due to the local ore
    used that was high in nickel. The Orichalum (A coppery appearing
    bronze alloy) was used extensively in minting the Larger Roman coins
    of the first two centuries AD. These bronze alloys were allowed this
    variance in composition because the bronze coinage was akin to paper
    money in that these never were worth their weight. Greek silver
    coins were relatively pure, but in Roman times, beginning with Nero,
    silver began to be debased in a show of true inflation/deflation
    until by the late 3rd century silver accounted for only about 4% of
    the metal content. Most of these coins became silver plated or
    washed using a method which is also not clearly understood. 

    I hope this is useful. Do jewelers tend to be myopic? I find this
    fascinating and may represent a tradition extending back 3000 years. 

Regards,
Tom

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