ELEMENTAL COMPARISON OF SILVER COINS OF IRANIAN SELJUK WITH THOSE OF ROMAN EMPIRE BY PIXE

Authors

  • Parasto Masjedi Department of Archaeology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, I.R.Iran
  • Farhang Khademi Department of Archaeology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, I.R.Iran
  • Javad Neystani Department of Archaeology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, I.R.Iran
  • Seyyed Mehdi Mosavi Kouhpar Department of Archaeology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, I.R.Iran

Keywords:

Seljuk, silver, metal, coin, PIXE

Abstract

Elemental analyses of silver coins provide valuable information about political and economical situation and also about the mines and metallurgy of minting time. The variation of the elemental concentration may be due to the use of different ores for making coins. In this research nine silver coins belonging to Anatolian Seljuk's along with five silver coins belonging to Iranian Seljuk's were analyze by PIXE. The Elements discovered in the coins include: Ag, Au, Pb, Cu, Fe, Ca, Si, Cl, Ti, and Bi. The comparison between Ag rates in these coins revealed that rate of Ag in Roman Seljuk's coins is more than Ag rate in that of Iranian Great Seljuk's. This may indicate a higher level of technique used by Roman Seljuk for extracting silver and issuing coins. High rate of Cu in both Roman and Iranian coins showed that these high rates were deliberately added. Finally, the same amount of Lead used in both types of coins is due to similar technology used for extracting silver from Lead and Zinc ores.

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Published

2023-07-27

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 1 (2013)

Section

Articles