A Neutron Tomographic Analysis of Plated Silver Coins from Ancient Greece Official or Illegal?

A Neutron Tomographic Analysis of Plated Silver Coins from Ancient Greece Official or Illegal?

Scott Olsen, Filomena Silvemini, Vladimir Luzin, Ulf Garbe , Max Avdeev, Joel Davis, Ken Sheedy

Abstract. This study focuses on a neutron tomographic analysis conducted on a set of plated silver coins minted in the city-state of Athens and in the Greek colonies of Kroton and Metapontum (South Italy or Magna Graecia) during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. The investigation aims to define the plating method by characterising the morphological and structural features of the specimens, i.e. the volume fraction of metallic and non-metallic components, and thickness maps of the plating and porosity. The status of these coins is uncertain: were they official issues authorized by state-authorities during periods of trouble (and silver shortages in the public treasury) or the product of ancient or modern counterfeiters?

Keywords
Neutron Tomography, Numismatics, Archaeometallugy

Published online 1/5/2020, 6 pages
Copyright © 2020 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Scott Olsen, Filomena Silvemini, Vladimir Luzin, Ulf Garbe , Max Avdeev, Joel Davis, Ken Sheedy, A Neutron Tomographic Analysis of Plated Silver Coins from Ancient Greece Official or Illegal?, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 15, pp 233-238, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644900574-36

The article was published as article 36 of the book Neutron Radiography

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

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