On 23.11.2017 10:05, Ragnar Saage wrote:
> Hi, I discovered a peculiar alloy when looking at mill tokens from the
> 16th century. We have two stone casting moulds from Tallinn dated to
> 1537 CE (the have a date written on them). One of them showed traces of
> lead and mercury when analysed with a pXRF.
>
> We also have one of those tokens, which by the looks of it was cast with
> one of the moulds and the composition was about 45% Sn, 40% Hg, 10% Pb
> and 5% Cu (these are rough estimates, my pXRF is not calibrated to Hg
> alloys).
>
> It is possible that the token was cast later than the 16th century, but
> then it is not clear why it has been so worn down - it looks like it has
> been used/carried around for a while.
>
> My question: does anybody know any cases of tin-mercury alloys being
> used and could point me towards some literature about it?
>
> Best wishes
> Ragnar Saage
> University of Tartu
>
>
> ps. If I sparked someones interest in tokens, write me and I can share
> an article about them, that was written by a numismatic Ivar Leimus
> (Money or no money: what does society need? Tokens in medieval and
> pre-modern Tallinn
> <http://opac.regesta-imperii.de/lang_en/anzeige.php?buchbeitrag=Money+or+no+money%3A+what+does+society+need%3F+Tokens+in+medieval+and+pre-modern+Tallinn&pk=1751934>
> Leimus, Ivar
> <http://opac.regesta-imperii.de/lang_en/autoren.php?name=Leimus%2C+Ivar>. (2012) -
> In: FS Peter Ilisch
> <http://opac.regesta-imperii.de/lang_en/anzeige.php?sammelwerk=FS+Peter+Ilisch> p.
> 267-276)
>
>
>
>
>
>
Hi Ragnar,
I am not sure if that will be of any help at all. But when I hear tin
amalgam and 16th century, then I have to think of mirrors immediately.
Check this article
http://www.spiegelart.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Fl%C3%BCchtiges-Quecksilber.pdf
The article is in German, though...
Best wishes,
Bastian
PS: And yes, I'd be interested in the article. Could you send it
off-list to me?
--
Dr. Bastian Asmus
Labor für Archäometallurgie
Beroldingerweg 1
79194 Gundelfingen
+49 (0)176 42683878
http://archaeometallurgie.de
https://www.facebook.com/Labor-f%C3%BCr-Arch%C3%A4ometallurgie-2089875054576790/
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