Copper based Roman coins

From about 150 to 80 B.C., most of the coins contained much higher silver concentrations than normally found in copper-based Roman coins (see Figure 7). There is no indication that silver was deliberately added to any... 

Chemical Compositions of Copper-Based Roman Coins. Augustan Quadrantes, ca. 

SEVERAL HUNDRED COPPER-BASED ROMAN COINS have been analyzed by wet chemistry (J-5), x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (6-11), and atomic absorption spectroscopy (12). Consequently, a general understanding of the compositions of copper-based Roman coins is developing. For instance, the debasement of orichalcum (Roman brass) coins by substituting tin and lead for zinc during the late first and second centuries is well known (1,12). 

This chapter is the seventh in a series of articles on the chemical composition of copper-based Roman coins. 

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