Detection of Surface-Silvering and Near-Surface Silver Enrichment on AD 253/254 Bosporan Staters by Electron Probe Micro-Analysis

M. G. Abramzon; Абрамзон М. Г.; Yu. Yu. Efimova; Ефимова Ю. Ю.; N. V. Koptseva; Копцева Н. В.; D. A. Gorlenko; Горленко Д. А.; I. A. Saprykina; Сапрыкина И. А.; T. N. Smekalova; Смекалова Т. Н.

doi:10.31857/S1028096023100023

Detection of Surface-Silvering and Near-Surface Silver Enrichment on AD 253/254 Bosporan Staters by Electron Probe Micro-Analysis

Authors: Abramzon M.G.¹^,2, Efimova Y.Y.¹, Koptseva N.V.¹, Gorlenko D.A.¹, Saprykina I.A.², Smekalova T.N.³
Affiliations:
1. Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University
2. Institute of Archaeology
3. Crimean Federal University named after V.I. Vernadsky
Issue: No 10 (2023)
Pages: 96-102
Section: Articles
URL: https://rjmseer.com/1028-0960/article/view/664497
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31857/S1028096023100023
EDN: https://elibrary.ru/TGDHYS
ID: 664497

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Abstract

The article deals with the results of the EPMA investigation of surface of two groups of AD 253/254 Bosporan staters minted in the names of Rhescuporis V and Pharsanzes. It was found that a special silvering technique was used for each group. In the Phescuporis V’s coin production, depletion-silvering was executed by first tempering and oxidizing the flan, then attacking it with organic acids before striking. No silver coating was revealed on his coins. Meanwhile Pharsanzes staters have a silver coating with a thickness of up to 10 µm. The elements chlorine, calcium, sodium and magnesium that were first revealed in the surface layer suggest the use of a special paste for silvering the coins of this king. Its components could be chlorides of silver, sodium, ammonium, mercury, potassium hydrogen tartrate and chalk as a thickener. Both techniques for silver surface enrichment of coins were common practice in the Roman coinage from the late third to beginning of the fourth century AD.

Keywords

natural science methods in archaeology, metallography, EPMA, coin alloy, surface-silvering of ancient coins, Bosporus, staters.

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