An Analysis Of Canadian Ni Coinage - Coin Community Forum

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

Author	Replies: 2 / Views: 1,489
KurtS Pillar of the Community United States 5318 Posts	Posted 12/27/2007 03:42 am In case anyone here shares my scientific curiosity for the metallurgy of coinage, here's a fascinating analysis done by Anders Mikkelsen in Norway of various Canadian coins. I can only guess these figures relate to naturally occurring trace elements in Canada's nickel deposits, since it is also a major source of Niobium in particular. 1978 Dime: Ni: 90.6 Mo: 0.38 Nb: 3.34 Bi: 2.0 Fe: 02b0.4 Ag: 0.03 1995 Dime: Ni: 97.12 Bi: 0.9 Zr: 0.41 Nb: 1.05 Mo: 0.12 Fe: 0.13 Co: 0.12 1969 Nickel: Ni: 94.57 Nb: 2.08 Fe: 0.24 Pb: 0.34 1973 Nickel: Ni: 90.33 Mo: 0.5 Nb: 3.8 Zr: 0.87 Bi: 2.85 Fe: 0.33 1979 Nickel: Ni: 95.27 Bi: 0.92 Zr: 0.45 Nb: 1.85 Pd: 0.16 Fe: 0.21 Mn: 0.19 1972 Quarter: Ni: 99.66 (!) Fe: 0.03 Mn: 0.17 Edited by KurtS 12/27/2007 1:28 pm Report this Post to the Staff

Sap Moderator Australia 16806 Posts	Posted 12/27/2007 8:25 pm Neat. I've always wanted to try that during a slow day at work. Unfortunately, we haven't had any days slow enough for the past couple of years... I'm surprised copper wasn't detected? I would assume that to be a significant minor component. Of course, another source of "contamination" might well be from circulation (if the coins analysed weren't uncirculated specimens). For instance, if the 1978 dime had been "hit" by an old silver coin which left behind a tiny smear of silver, that could explain the silver appearing there. Do you know what analytical technique he used? Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff
KurtS Pillar of the Community United States 5318 Posts	Posted 12/27/2007 8:42 pm I was a bit surprised by the amount of Niobium, the presence of bismuth, and that trace amount of palladium. The total lack of copper is puzzling to me, but maybe there's a simple explanation due to the mining/refining process? It would be interesting to know the method of analysis...I'll have to ask. The conclusion might be there's no such thing as "pure nickel" coinage. Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 2 / Views: 1,489

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

All Forums Category: World Coins and Currency Forums Forum: Canadian Coins and Colonial Tokens

Silver Gold Bull US is the United States leading bullion dealer. We deliver gold coins, gold bars, silver coins, silver bars and precious metals to your door. Order today!

The First Dollar, your premier source for bullion and rare coins. See our bullion list on the site and the coin inventory on ebay.

View Last 100 New Topics

Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited.
Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

Coin Community Forum

It took 0.17 seconds to rattle this change.