A set of ancient Antoninianus silver coins, dating back between 249 and 274 A.D. and minted in Rome, Galliae, Orient and Ticinum, have been characterized. We use for the first time a combination of nano-invasive (FIB-FESEM-EDX, VIMP) and destructive techniques (EMPA) along with non-invasive, i.e., SEM-EDX and Raman. The results revealed that, contrary to the extended belief, a complex Ag-Cu-Pb-Sn alloy was used. The alloy was common in that flourishing years the Romans which produced Ag-Cu alloys with relatively high silver content for the production of both the external layers and inner nucleus of coins. Such data also revealed that, although surface silvering process were applied in different periods of crisis under the reign of Antoninii, even during crisis Romans produced Antoninianus of high quality. Moreover, a first attempt to improve the silvering procedure using Hg-Ag amalgam is identified.
Doménech-Carbó, M. T., Di Turo, F., Montoya, N., Catalli, F., Doménech-Carbó, A., & De Vito, C. (2018). FIB-FESEM and EMPA results on Antoninianus silver coins for manufacturing and corrosion processes. En Scientific Reports (Vol. 8, Issue 1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28990-x
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