SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE METAL COMPOSITION OF THE MOLDOVAN GROATS MINTED BY STEPHEN IV
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE METAL COMPOSITION OF THE MOLDOVAN GROATS MINTED BY STEPHEN IV
Author(s): Lilia V. Dergaciova, Andrej S. Bojko-GagarinSubject(s): History, Economic history, Local History / Microhistory, Political history, Middle Ages
Published by: Editura Muzeului Municipiului Bucuresti
Keywords: The Principality of Moldova;Stephen IV;copper groats;XRF analyses;
Summary/Abstract: The article at hand discusses seven coins minted by Stephen IV, kept in various Ukrainian collections. The elemental compositions of metal alloys of these groats were investigated. According to the metallographic results, all the items have a high content of copper, mercury and silver, with additions of lead, zinc, arsenic, antimony, tin, nickel, indium, thallium and so on. The presence of mercury indicates the usage of amalgam in the silvering process of the copper blanks. The collected data complete the information about the other 15 pieces also investigated by XRF method and kept in the C. Secășanu and R. Zăveanu collections. Thus, all the 22 coins investigated until now indicate a single method used in the production of Stephen’s coins. Pieces struck from other metals or using other silvering methods were not identified.
Journal: Revista de Cercetari Arheologice si Numismatice
- Issue Year: 2020
- Issue No: 6
- Page Range: 407-413
- Page Count: 7
- Language: English