Platinum-group elements and gold in silver coinage and the issue of salt cementation.

It has been proposed that gold purification by cementation could account for the low gold content of ancient Greek coinage from Attica and the Cyclades. In order to place new constraints on this suggestion, the concentrations of platinum-group elements (PGEs) and gold have been measured in 72 silver coins mostly from the Greek Archaic and Classical periods, but also from Rome, India, medieval Europe, and colonial Spanish Americas, by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. A novel technique allowing these concentrations to be determined in silver coins is described.

From commodity to money: The rise of silver coinage around the Ancient Mediterranean (sixth-first centuries bce).

The reasons why the Western Mediterranean, especially Carthage and Rome, resisted monetization relative to the Eastern Mediterranean are still unclear. We address this question by combining lead (Pb) and silver (Ag) isotope abundances in silver coinage from the Aegean, Magna Graecia, Carthage and Roman Republic. The clear relationships observed between Ag/Ag and Pb/Pb reflect the mixing of silver ores or silver objects with Pb metal used for cupellation.