Białe, ciemne i bielone – o stopach srebra używanych we wczesnym średniowieczu

• Authors: Strobin Jarosław

Title variants

EN

White, dark and whitened – about silver alloys used in the early Middle Ages

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

In the 10th and 11th centuries, in the areas inhabited by Slavs and Scandinavians, hacksilver was used in economic circulation. These were fragments of coins and jewellery items, the important element of which was the weight, but also the quality of the bullion. The metal analyses carried out indicate that it was a raw material with a varied alloy composition, and therefore with a different value. Apart from silver of high purity, from 95% to 99% Ag, used for production of filigree and granulation jewellery, there were also in circulation items made of alloys of lower fineness, including coins. Some of them were subjected to whitening procedures - removing copper from the surface, which was thus enriched with pure silver. These methods were used for frauds, where whitened fragments, made of a lower quality alloy, were offered as if they were made of pure silver. Another method of counterfeiting coins was to cover them with a layer of silver amalgam. One of simple methods of preventing counterfeiting and checking the quality of the raw material was to cut the surface with a knife blade (nicks, pecks). A visual assessment of colour at the cut allowed to determine whether the item had been whitened and what alloy it was originally made of. Whitening of silver alloy items was performed by producers of coins and jewellery, but also later by people trading in silver fragments.

Keywords

PL

wczesne średniowiecze; Słowiańszczyzna; cywilizacja islamu; stopy srebra; bielenie; nicks; pecks; srebrzenie amalgamatem

EN

early Middle Ages; Slavic territory; Islamic civilization; silver alloys; whitening; nicks; pecks; amalgam silvering

• Publisher: Muzeum Archeologiczne w Gdańsku
• Journal: Pomorania Antiqua
• Year: 2024
• Volume: Tom XXXIII
• Pages: 213–238

Contributors

author

Strobin Jarosław

• Muzeum Archeologiczne w Gdańsku, ul. Mariacka 25/26, 80-833 Gdańsk