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X-Ray Microanalysis of the Surface of AD 286/287 Staters of Thothorses: New Data on the Silvering Process of Bosporan Coins

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Abstract

The paper reports the results of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis of the composition of the alloy of a group of AD 286/287 silvered staters of the Bosporan king Thothorses from the 2011 Phanagorian hoard. For the first time, such elements as chlorine, calcium, sodium and magnesium are revealed on the surface of these coins, which suggests the use of silvering paste composed of silver chloride. Other additives might be sodium chloride, ammonium chloride, potassium-hydrogen tartrate, mercuric chloride and chalk as a thickener. A similar technique of silvering of the surface of coins was purportedly used in Roman coinage from the late third to beginning of the fourth century AD.

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Funding

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 18-18-00193 “The initial period of the history of money: the transition from full-weight coins to a symbol of notional value”).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University, 455000, Magnitogorsk, Russia

    M. G. Abramzon, M. P. Baryshnikov, Yu. Yu. Efimova & N. V. Koptseva

  2. Institute of Archaeology, 117036, Moscow, Russia

    M. G. Abramzon & I. A. Saprykina

  3. V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, 295007, Simferopol, Republic of Crimea, Russia

    T. N. Smekalova

Authors
  1. M. G. Abramzon
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  2. M. P. Baryshnikov
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  3. Yu. Yu. Efimova
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  4. N. V. Koptseva
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  5. I. A. Saprykina
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  6. T. N. Smekalova
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Correspondence to M. G. Abramzon.

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Translated by L. Mosina

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Abramzon, M.G., Baryshnikov, M.P., Efimova, Y.Y. et al. X-Ray Microanalysis of the Surface of AD 286/287 Staters of Thothorses: New Data on the Silvering Process of Bosporan Coins. J. Surf. Investig. 14, 529–533 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1027451020030027

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1027451020030027

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