Elemental composition of gold and silver coins of Siphnos

Book chapter

Sheedy, Kenneth, Gore, Damian, Blet-Lemarquand, Maryse and Davis, Gillan. (2021). Elemental composition of gold and silver coins of Siphnos. In Metallurgy in Numismatics 6: Mines, Metals and Money:Ancient World Studies in Science, Archaeology and History pp. 149 The Royal Numismatic Society.
AuthorsSheedy, Kenneth, Gore, Damian, Blet-Lemarquand, Maryse and Davis, Gillan
Abstract

Three areas in mainland and Aegean Greece are known to have been important sources of silver during antiquity: Laurion in south-east Attica, the Thraco-Macedonian region of northern Greece, and the Cycladic island of Siphnos. The mines of Siphnos are thought to have been a major source of silver for archaic Greece coinage, especially that of Aegina. Lead isotope and elemental analyses have been used in published studies of ores, slag and litharge (lead oxide; PbO) found on Siphnos, and elemental analyses on 12 coins. Here we present elemental analyses of one gold and 29 silver coins from Siphnos. This data leads us to reconsider the claim made by Gale et al. 1980 that the levels of bismuth in Siphnian silver are higher than those recorded levels for Laurion silver. Finally, the evidence of the analyses is considered in relation to the history of minting on Siphnos.

Keywordsmetallurgy; coins; silver; lead; gold; minting
Page range149
163
Year01 Jan 2021
Book titleMetallurgy in Numismatics 6: Mines, Metals and Money:Ancient World Studies in Science, Archaeology and History
PublisherThe Royal Numismatic Society
Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
ISBN978-0-901405-37-1
Open accessOpen access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication process dates
Deposited14 Dec 2021
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8x30z/elemental-composition-of-gold-and-silver-coins-of-siphnos

Log in to edit

Download files

Publisher's version
OASheedy_2021_Elemental_composition_of_gold_and_silver.pdf
License: All rights reserved
File access level: Open

  • 143
    total views
  • 284
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 9
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

A new algorithm for using Pb isotopes to determine the provenance of bullion in ancient Greek coinage
Albarède, Francis, Davis, Gillan, Gentelli, Liesel, Blichert-Toft, Janne, Gitler, Haim, Pinto, Marine and Telouk, Philippe. (2024). A new algorithm for using Pb isotopes to determine the provenance of bullion in ancient Greek coinage. Journal of Archaeological Science. 163, pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105919
Bullion mixtures in silver coinage from ancient Greece and Egypt
Albarède, Francis, Davis, Gillan, Gentelli, Liesel, Blichert-Toft, Janne, Gitler, Haim, Pinto, Marine and Telouk, Philippe. (2024). Bullion mixtures in silver coinage from ancient Greece and Egypt. Journal of Archaeological Science. 162, pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105918
Making money out of making money in Ancient Athens
Davis, Gillan and Albarede, Francis. (2023). Making money out of making money in Ancient Athens. Archaeometry. pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/ARCM.12926
Isotope and trace element compositions of silver-bearing ores in the Balkans as possible metal sources in antiquity
Westner, Katrin Julia, Vaxevanopoulos, Markos, Blichert-Toft, Janne, Davis, Gillan and Albarède, Francis. (2023). Isotope and trace element compositions of silver-bearing ores in the Balkans as possible metal sources in antiquity. Journal of Archaeological Science. 155, p. Article 105791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105791
Analyses of queen Hetepheres' bracelets from her celebrated tomb in Giza reveals new information on silver, metallurgy and trade in Old Kingdom Egypt, c.2600 BC
Sowada, Karin, Newman, Richard, Albarède, Francis, Davis, Gillan, Derrick, Michele R., Murphy, Timothy D. and Gore, Damian B.. (2023). Analyses of queen Hetepheres' bracelets from her celebrated tomb in Giza reveals new information on silver, metallurgy and trade in Old Kingdom Egypt, c.2600 BC. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 49, p. Article 103978. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.103978
Scientific and Technical Applications
Blet-Lemarquand, Maryse and Davis, Gillan. (2022). Scientific and Technical Applications. In Survey of Numismatic Research 2014-2020 - Volume I & II pp. 41-54 International Numismatic Commission.
Narrowing provenance for ancient Greek silver coins using Ag isotopes and Sb contents of potential ores
Vaxevanopoulos, Markos, Davis, Gillan, Milot, Jean, Blichert-Toft, Janne, Malod-Dognin, Chloe and Albarède, Francis. (2022). Narrowing provenance for ancient Greek silver coins using Ag isotopes and Sb contents of potential ores. Journal of Archaeological Science. 145, p. Article 105645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105645
New findings of ancient Greek silver sources
Vaxevanopoulos, Markos, Blichert-Toft, Janne, Davis, Gillan and Albarède, Francis. (2022). New findings of ancient Greek silver sources. Journal of Archaeological Science. 137, p. Article 105474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2021.105474
Introduction - Teaching with Numismatics and celebrating one of Australia’s leading numismatists, John Melville-Jones AM
Davis, Gillan and Brice, Lee L.. (2021). Introduction - Teaching with Numismatics and celebrating one of Australia’s leading numismatists, John Melville-Jones AM. Journal of the Numismatic Association of Australia. 30, pp. 1-4.
The Jerubba'al Inscription from Khirbet al-Ra'i : A Proto-Canaanite (Early Alphabetic) inscription
Rollston, Christopher, Garfinkel, Yosef, Keimer, Kyle H., Davis, Gillan and Ganor, Saar. (2021). The Jerubba'al Inscription from Khirbet al-Ra'i : A Proto-Canaanite (Early Alphabetic) inscription. Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology. 2, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.52486/01.00002.1
Metal provenance of Iron Age Hacksilber hoards in the southern Levant
Gentelli, Liesel, Blichert-Toft, Janne, Davis, Gillan, Gitler, Haim and Albarède, Francis. (2021). Metal provenance of Iron Age Hacksilber hoards in the southern Levant. Journal of Archaeological Science. 134, p. Article: 105472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2021.105472
From commodity to money : The rise of silver coinage around the Ancient Mediterranean (sixth–first centuries bce)
Albarède, F., Blichert-Toft, J., de Callataÿ, F., Davis, G., Debernardi, P., Gentelli, L., Gitler, H., Kemmers, F., Klein, S., Malod-Dognin, C,, Milot, J., Télouk, P., Vaxevanopoulos, M. and Westner, K.. (2021). From commodity to money : The rise of silver coinage around the Ancient Mediterranean (sixth–first centuries bce). Archaeometry. 63(1), pp. 142-155. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12615
Introduction to Mines, Metals and Money : Ancient World Studies in Science, Archaeology and History
Sheedy, Kenneth A. and Davis, Gillan. (2020). Introduction to Mines, Metals and Money : Ancient World Studies in Science, Archaeology and History. In In Sheedy, Kenneth A. and Davis, Gillan (Ed.). Mines, metals and money : Ancient world studies in science, archaeology and history pp. 1-6 The Royal Numismatic Society.
Studies in Athenian silver coinage : Analysis of Archaic ‘owl’ tetradrachms
Davis, Gillan, Sheedy, Kenneth A. and Gore, Damian B.. (2020). Studies in Athenian silver coinage : Analysis of Archaic ‘owl’ tetradrachms. In In Sheedy, A. Kenneth and Davis, Gillan (Ed.). Metallurgy in numismatics 6 : Mines, metals and money : Ancient world studies in science, archaeology and history pp. 207-214 The Royal Numismatic Society.
Theminting/mining nexus: New understandings of Archaic Greek silver coinage fromlead isotope analysis
Davis, Gillan and Stos-Gale, Zofia Anna. (2020). Theminting/mining nexus: New understandings of Archaic Greek silver coinage fromlead isotope analysis. In In Davis, G. and Sheedy, Kenneth (Ed.). Metallurgy in Numismatics 6: Mines, Metals and Money:Ancient World Studies in Science, Archaeology and History pp. 87-100 The Royal Numismatic Society.
Separating silver sources of Archaic Athenian coinage by comprehensive compositional analyses
Davis, Gillan, Gore, Damian B., Sheedy, Kenneth A. and Albarède, Francis. (2020). Separating silver sources of Archaic Athenian coinage by comprehensive compositional analyses. Journal of Archaeological Science. 114, p. Article 105068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2019.105068
A miner's perspective on Pb isotope provenances in the Western and Central Mediterranean
Albarede, Francis, Blichert-Toft, Janne, Gentelli, Liesel, Milot, Jean, Vaxevanopoulos, Markos, Klein, Sabine, Westner, Katrin, Birch, Thomas, Davis, Gil and de Callataÿ, François. (2020). A miner's perspective on Pb isotope provenances in the Western and Central Mediterranean. Journal of Archaeological Science. 121, p. 105194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105194
Miltiades II and his alleged mint in the Chersonesos
Davis, Gillan and Sheedy, Kenneth. (2019). Miltiades II and his alleged mint in the Chersonesos. Historia: Zeitschrift fuer Alte Geschichte. 68(1), pp. 11-25. https://doi.org/10.25162/historia-2019-0001
General introduction : Communicating in the past connecting with the past
Davis, Gillan and Keimer, Kyle H.. (2018). General introduction : Communicating in the past connecting with the past. In In Davis, G. and Keimer, Kyle H. (Ed.). Registers and modes of communication in the Ancient Near East : Getting the message across pp. 1-19 Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315206448-1
Spatial variability of elements in ancient Greek (ca. 600-250 BC) silvercoins using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometry(SEM-EDS) and time of flight-secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS)
Marjo, Christopher E., Davis, Gillan, Gong, Bin and Gore, Damian B.. (2017). Spatial variability of elements in ancient Greek (ca. 600-250 BC) silvercoins using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometry(SEM-EDS) and time of flight-secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). Powder Diffraction. 32(S2), pp. S95-S100. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0885715617001002
Suitability of transportable EDXRF for the on-site assessment of ancient silver coins and other silver artifacts
Gore, Damian B. and Davis, Gillan. (2016). Suitability of transportable EDXRF for the on-site assessment of ancient silver coins and other silver artifacts. Applied Spectroscopy Reviews. 70(5), pp. 840-851. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003702816638283