ABSTRACT
The metals used as alloying material included tin, zinc, lead, antimony, nickel, and even arsenic. The health of metalworkers was not a strong concern of the wealthy and powerful. This chapter discusses the things that are often not as they appear saying applicable to much of life and definitely to numismatic archaeology. Fortunately for the North American numismatic archaeologist, the composition of each Mexican, Canadian, and US coin is readily available in standard coin catalogs. The big advances in metal refining and production during the 1800s led to the development of many new alloys and one major new coin metal. Titanium (Ti) has been used for a few commemorative or special coins, but has often been used in an aluminum alloy that is much harder than unalloyed aluminum. The new wave of platinum coins did not get underway until the 1990s when several countries minted them for collectors and for the bullion trade.
