The bad side of recycling

The use of ancient coins as a source of material for modern forgeries

Bibliographic Data

ID8352667
AuthorsLaura Perucchetti (0000-0003-2881-4295, Scientific Research The British Museum London UK, corresponding author), Amelia Dowler (0000-0001-7880-9318, Scientific Research The British Museum London UK)
Year2022
Volume64
IssueS1
Pages75-86
Publication date2022-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArchaeometry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-813X • E-ISSN: 1475-4754
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/arcm.12738
OpenAlexW4200025552
LanguageEN
References cited14

A group of six coins from Ithaca in the British Museum collection has been analysed using a bench Bruker Artax X‐ray fluorescence spectrometer on a polished surface. The coins can be stylistically divided into two variants. The analysis highlighted that the two variants are chemically different, with one suspected of being a modern forgery. The first records of coins stylistically similar to the ones suspected of being forgeries are dated to the 19th century. This paper hypothesises that these suspected forgeries have been produced by an expert forger remelting other, more common, ancient coins. We suggest that the forger was an expert smith and also a numismatist and/or antiquarian who was possibly aware of the most recent studies dedicated to the chemical composition of ancient coins. This paper presents the hypothesis that the forger may have melted ancient coins or other artefacts to produce modern forgeries with an ‘ancient’ composition

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Conservation Techniques and Studies · Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis · History

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