Numismatic studies

Casting coins from brass, or some brass-like alloy has a long history in China, Korea, Japan, and southeast Asia, one that reaches back into ancient times. The traditional coin is referred to as a "cash , a round coin with a square, central hole, and cash were usually strung together for ease of transport and trade. There has been a certain amount of numismatic study of such coins, with the emphasis being on those of China, as opposed to the coins of Korea, Japan, or what is now Vietnam (i-5). There appear to have been no metallurgical studies of these coins however, using either destructive or non-destructive techniques, perhaps because their low cost and value makes them less desirable to study as series of artifacts. 

Anheuser, K. and J. P. Northover (1994), Silver plating on Roman and Celtic coins from Britain - a technical study, B. Numismatic J. 64, 22-32. 

Craddock, P.T., Burnett, A.M. and Preston, K. (1980). Hellenistic copper base coinage and the origins of brass. In Scientific Studies in Numismatics, ed. Oddy, W.A., British Museum Occasional Paper No. 18, British Museum, London, pp. 53-64. 

Research in art and archeology uses PIXE as an analytical tool in the fields of early development of pottery, metalliu-gy, and glassmaking, in numismatics, in studying painting material and color additives, paper-like objects and manuscripts, and in provenance studies of artifacts. 

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