Characterization Of Ancient Greek Coins Using Non-Destructive Tof Neutron Diffraction.

The characterization of ten ancient Greek silver coins from the Treasure collection of Gazoros (CH IX 61) found in Serres-North Greece; as well as two silver coin replicas, has been carried out using a polychromatic neutron beam of large cross-section to obtain diffraction patterns from the entire objects. The diffraction profiles indicate that there are three distinct categories of coins. The first one is a set of three coins consisting mainly of silver and copper alloy phases with high quantities of Cu2O and CuCl. The second group is formed of coins with high silver/copper alloy ratio and the third is a collection of five coins consisting of very high purity silver. The comparison between the diffraction profiles of the original coins to those of the replicas present distinct variations that may be used to differentiate the different groups.