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Valued Member
United States
224 Posts |
I know that bullion is a silver alloy, and that many bronze coins contain some silver. So what distinguishes the two? Is bullion simply a higher percentage of silver? If so, about what percentage of silver will classify a coin as bullion?
edited by moderator for spelling
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Rest in Peace
10197 Posts |
Billion refers to a base metal that is usually less than 30% silver. Bronze is basically an alloy of copper. Now as for trace elements, in older refining, small amounts of gold can sometimes be found in silver, depends on source mine and refining purity.. Billion is just a lot less refined of a n alloy.
Edited by Crazyb0
08/30/2018 5:42 pm
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Coins contain 40% or less of silver and a higher percent of a base metal are defined as billon.
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Valued Member
 United States
224 Posts |
Okay. I was a bit confused. I did not know that bronze coins with only a few % of silver were still called billon. I had thought that designation applied only to silver alloys that had enough to appear silvery.
Thanks!!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
There is no rhyme or reason to it. Personally, I consider a *controlled* amount of silver to be billon, and an *accidental* amount to be just bronze. Visually, you can't tell a difference once silver purity drops below 5-10%. Since I have the data, the Gadhaiya Paisa are usually incorrectly called billon, even though most are well over 50% silver, but late iterations can dip as low as 0.7%! They are all the same denomination, and there isn't a set lime in the sand. Some sellers even soak their billon coins in acid until they look silvery again.
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CCF Advertiser
United States
1306 Posts |
You know, maybe it is wrong what I do as a dealer, but I make my own call and ignore what I received that was called billon if that designation will just give me issues justifying some other persons classification. So aside from coins that are bronze (ae) that are plated with some silver, if the coin is an alloy of silver and base metal and it looks a grayish silver color obviously, I call it billon. And if it is technically billion from the literature and looks to be bronze for all intents and purposes, I just ignore what others have said about the series or the particular coin and say I am selling a bronze (ae) coin.
Edited by louisvillekyshop
08/30/2018 7:58 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7945 Posts |
[quote] I consider a *controlled* amount of silver to be billon, and an *accidental* amount to be just bronze[quote]
I agree. I thought that bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, and also thought any silver in there would only be inadvertent.
So, to me billon and bronze are more like apples and pears, not two similar alloys along the same spectrum of composition.
But then I'm learning on a daily basis here, so maybe that's off base.
Edited by tdziemia
08/31/2018 1:08 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12057 Posts |
To me, when silver can no longer be considered the main constituent of the alloy, it is more appropriately known as billon.
Billon is predominantly an alloy of silver and copper, occasionally with bronze instead (itself an alloy) but...depending on where the silver originates, a billon or silver alloy will likely also contain trace amounts of gold, since the two metals are often found together within the same substrate or as part of a matrix. Other metals which can be found in small quantities in billon alloys include arsenic, tin, mercury and lead.
Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis Edited by paralyse
08/31/2018 11:03 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Interesting thread. I'm with Joe (Louisvillekyshop) on this one. When working on my collection database metallurgical analysis and percentages of components matter less than what my eyes are telling me.
Edited by Kamnaskires
08/31/2018 11:17 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Here's a good example of the difference cleaning can make. These are are all Indo Sassanian Sri Ha drachms, all billon of about 15-20% silver, but sold by three different sellers who used three different methods to clean them  |
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Valued Member
United States
224 Posts |
Interesting, Finn. Do you know how the one in the center was cleaned?
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New Member
United States
12 Posts |
Finn, I saw your avatar. Can you tell me more about Armorican Billon? I'm new here and posted in the newbie section but was specifically hoping to speak with you after seeing your avatar - Dash
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New Member
United States
12 Posts |
echizento...is your avatar Billon as well?
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Replies: 12 / Views: 2,839 |
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Posted 08/30/2018 5:57 pm
