Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c28.s7.t5.3

v1.c28.s7.t5.3

The trace element impurities in coins (several examples provided in Tables 17.3, 17.6 and 17.7) suggest the possible sources of mines from which the ores had been reduced to the respective metals. The Ahicchatra coins have been reported to contain appreciable quantities of antimony and some contain lead as well. (Lal, 1953: 202) Bismuth and arsenic were detected in the Indo-Greek silver, and there are iron globules in the Kuṣāṇa copper coins, rendering them to be responsive to the magnet. (Bivar, 1987) We would discuss later in this chapter the scientific and archaeological interpretation of the entry of iron globules in ancient copper artefacts. In ancient India, shortage of copper led to the use of lead coins as in Nagara (vide Tables 17.6 and 17.7) on the one hand, and on the other to the debasement of copper coins through alloying with iron as in Paunar, Maharasthra. (Hegde, 1975) Some 310 Paunar coins dating from seventh century AD assayed 71.9-77.3 per cent copper, 21.8-23.2 per cent iron, zero to 4.4 per cent tin, 0.3-0.4 per cent lead and trace of Ni, Co, Bi and Zn.