1.
Precious metal
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A precious metal is a rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements and they are usually ductile and have a high lustre. Historically, precious metals were important as currency but are now regarded mainly as investment, Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium each have an ISO4217 currency code. The best known precious metals are the metals, gold. Although both have industrial uses, they are known for their uses in art, jewelry, fine jewelry. Other precious metals include the platinum metals, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium. The demand for metals is driven not only by their practical use but also by their role as investments. Historically, precious metals have commanded much higher prices than common industrial metals, a metal is deemed to be precious if it is rare. The discovery of new sources of ore or improvements in mining or refining processes may cause the value of a metal to diminish. The status of a metal can also be determined by high demand or market value. Precious metals in bulk form are known as bullion and are traded on commodity markets, bullion metals may be cast into ingots or minted into coins. The defining attribute of bullion is that it is valued by its mass, the level of purity varies from issue to issue. The purest mass-produced bullion coins are in the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf series, a 100% pure bullion is nearly impossible, as the percentage of impurities diminishes, it becomes progressively more difficult to purify the metal further. Historically, coins had an amount of weight of alloy. The Krugerrand is the first modern example of measuring in pure gold, other bullion coins show neither the purity nor the fine-gold weight on the coin but are recognized and consistent in their composition. Many coins historically showed a denomination in currency, although nominally issued as legal tender, these coins face value as currency is far below that of their value as bullion. For instance, Canada mints a gold coin at a face value of $50 containing one troy ounce of gold—as of May 2011. Bullion coins minting by national governments gives them some numismatic value in addition to their bullion value, one of the largest bullion coins in the world was the 10, 000-dollar Australian Gold Nugget coin minted in Australia which consists of a full kilogram of 99. 9% pure gold
2.
Alloy
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An alloy is a mixture of metals or a mixture of a metal and another element. Alloys are defined by a metallic bonding character, an alloy may be a solid solution of metal elements or a mixture of metallic phases. Intermetallic compounds are alloys with a stoichiometry and crystal structure. Zintl phases are sometimes considered alloys depending on bond types. Alloys are used in a variety of applications. In some cases, a combination of metals may reduce the overall cost of the material while preserving important properties, in other cases, the combination of metals imparts synergistic properties to the constituent metal elements such as corrosion resistance or mechanical strength. Examples of alloys are steel, solder, brass, pewter, duralumin, bronze, the alloy constituents are usually measured by mass. Alloys are usually classified as substitutional or interstitial alloys, depending on the arrangement that forms the alloy. They can be classified as homogeneous, or heterogeneous or intermetallic. An alloy is a mixture of elements, which forms an impure substance that retains the characteristics of a metal. Alloys are made by mixing two or more elements, at least one of which is a metal and this is usually called the primary metal or the base metal, and the name of this metal may also be the name of the alloy. The other constituents may or may not be metals but, when mixed with the base, they will be soluble. The mechanical properties of alloys will often be different from those of its individual constituents. A metal that is very soft, such as aluminium, can be altered by alloying it with another soft metal. Although both metals are soft and ductile, the resulting aluminium alloy will have much greater strength. Adding a small amount of carbon to iron trades its great ductility for the greater strength of an alloy called steel. Due to its strength, but still substantial toughness, and its ability to be greatly altered by heat treatment, steel is one of the most useful. By adding chromium to steel, its resistance to corrosion can be enhanced, creating stainless steel, while adding silicon will alter its electrical characteristics, producing silicon steel
3.
Hardness
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Hardness is a measure of how resistant solid matter is to various kinds of permanent shape change when a compressive force is applied. Some materials are harder than others, Hardness is dependent on ductility, elastic stiffness, plasticity, strain, strength, toughness, viscoelasticity, and viscosity. Common examples of matter are ceramics, concrete, certain metals, and superhard materials. There are three types of hardness measurements, scratch, indentation, and rebound. Within each of these classes of measurement there are individual measurement scales, for practical reasons conversion tables are used to convert between one scale and another. Scratch hardness is the measure of how resistant a sample is to fracture or permanent plastic deformation due to friction from a sharp object, the principle is that an object made of a harder material will scratch an object made of a softer material. When testing coatings, scratch hardness refers to the necessary to cut through the film to the substrate. The most common test is Mohs scale, which is used in mineralogy, one tool to make this measurement is the sclerometer. Another tool used to make these tests is the pocket hardness tester and this tool consists of a scale arm with graduated markings attached to a four-wheeled carriage. A scratch tool with a rim is mounted at a predetermined angle to the testing surface. In order to use it a weight of mass is added to the scale arm at one of the graduated markings. The use of the weight and markings allows a known pressure to be applied without the need for complicated machinery. Indentation hardness measures the resistance of a sample to material deformation due to a constant compression load from an object, they are primarily used in engineering. The tests work on the premise of measuring the critical dimensions of an indentation left by a specifically dimensioned and loaded indenter. Common indentation hardness scales are Rockwell, Vickers, Shore, rebound hardness, also known as dynamic hardness, measures the height of the bounce of a diamond-tipped hammer dropped from a fixed height onto a material. This type of hardness is related to elasticity, the device used to take this measurement is known as a scleroscope. Two scales that measures rebound hardness are the Leeb rebound hardness test, there are five hardening processes, Hall-Petch strengthening, work hardening, solid solution strengthening, precipitation hardening, and martensitic transformation. Hardness in the elastic range—a small temporary change in shape for a given force—is known as stiffness in the case of a given object and they exhibit plasticity—the ability to permanently change shape in response to the force, but remain in one piece
4.
Coin
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A coin is a small, flat, round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a government, Coins are usually metal or alloy, or sometimes made of synthetic materials. Coins made of metal are stored in large quantities as bullion coins. Other coins are used as money in transactions, circulating alongside banknotes. Usually the highest value coin in circulation is less than the lowest-value note. In the last hundred years, the value of circulation coins has occasionally been lower than the value of the metal they contain. Exceptions to the rule of face value being higher than content value also occur for some bullion coins made of copper, silver, or gold, while the Eagle, Maple Leaf, and Sovereign coins have nominal face values, the Krugerrand does not. The first coins were developed independently in Iron Age Anatolia and Archaic Greece, India, Coins spread rapidly in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, throughout Greece and Persia, and further to the Balkans. Standardized Roman currency was used throughout the Roman Empire, important Roman gold and silver coins were continued into the Middle Ages. Fiat money first arose in medieval China, with the paper money. Early paper money was introduced in Europe in the later Middle Ages, the penny was minted as a silver coin until the 17th century. The first circulating United States coins were cents, produced in 1793, Coins were an evolution of currency systems of the Late Bronze Age, where standard-sized ingots, and tokens such as knife money, were used to store and transfer value. In the late Chinese Bronze Age, standardized cast tokens were made and these were replicas in bronze of earlier Chinese currency, cowrie shells, so they were named Bronze Shell. According to Aristotle and Pollux, the first issuer of coins was Hermodike of Kyme The earliest coins are associated with Iron Age Anatolia. Early electrum coins were not standardized in weight, and in their earliest stage may have been ritual objects, such as badges or medals, issued by priests. The first Lydian coins were made of electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of silver, most of the early Lydian coins include no writing, only an image of a symbolic animal. Anatolian Artemis was the Πὀτνια Θηρῶν, whose symbol was the stag, a small percentage of early Lydian/Greek coins have a legend
5.
Jewelry
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Jewellery or jewelry consists of small decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes, for many centuries metal, often combined with gemstones, has been the normal material for jewellery, but other materials such as shells and other plant materials may be used. It is one of the oldest type of archaeological artefact – with 100, historically, the most widespread influence on jewellery in terms of design and style have come from Asia. Jewellery may be made from a range of materials. Gemstones and similar such as amber and coral, precious metals, beads, and shells have been widely used. In most cultures jewellery can be understood as a symbol, for its material properties, its patterns. Jewellery has been made to nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings. The word jewellery itself is derived from the jewel, which was anglicised from the Old French jouel. In British English, Indian English, New Zealand English, Hiberno-English, Australian English, both are used in Canadian English, though jewelry prevails by a two to one margin. Numerous cultures store wedding dowries in the form of jewellery or make jewellery as a means to store or display coins, alternatively, jewellery has been used as a currency or trade good, an example being the use of slave beads. Many items of jewellery, such as brooches and buckles, originated as functional items. Jewellery can also symbolise group membership or status, wearing of amulets and devotional medals to provide protection or ward off evil is common in some cultures. These may take the form of symbols, stones, plants, animals, body parts, in creating jewellery, gemstones, coins, or other precious items are often used, and they are typically set into precious metals. Alloys of nearly every metal known have been encountered in jewellery, bronze, for example, was common in Roman times. Modern fine jewellery usually includes gold, white gold, platinum, palladium, titanium, most contemporary gold jewellery is made of an alloy of gold, the purity of which is stated in karats, indicated by a number followed by the letter K. American gold jewellery must be of at least 10K purity, many whimsical fashions were introduced in the extravagant eighteenth century. Cameos that were used in connection with jewellery were the attractive trinkets along with many of the objects such as brooches, ear-rings. Some of the necklets were made of pieces joined with the gold chains were in and bracelets were also made sometimes to match the necklet
6.
Copper
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Copper is a chemical element with symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of copper has a reddish-orange color. Copper is one of the few metals that occur in nature in directly usable metallic form as opposed to needing extraction from an ore and this led to very early human use, from c.8000 BC. Copper used in buildings, usually for roofing, oxidizes to form a green verdigris, Copper is sometimes used in decorative art, both in its elemental metal form and in compounds as pigments. Copper compounds are used as agents, fungicides, and wood preservatives. Copper is essential to all living organisms as a trace dietary mineral because it is a key constituent of the enzyme complex cytochrome c oxidase. In molluscs and crustaceans, copper is a constituent of the blood pigment hemocyanin, replaced by the hemoglobin in fish. In humans, copper is found mainly in the liver, muscle, the adult body contains between 1.4 and 2.1 mg of copper per kilogram of body weight. The filled d-shells in these elements contribute little to interatomic interactions, unlike metals with incomplete d-shells, metallic bonds in copper are lacking a covalent character and are relatively weak. This observation explains the low hardness and high ductility of single crystals of copper, at the macroscopic scale, introduction of extended defects to the crystal lattice, such as grain boundaries, hinders flow of the material under applied stress, thereby increasing its hardness. For this reason, copper is supplied in a fine-grained polycrystalline form. The softness of copper partly explains its high conductivity and high thermal conductivity. The maximum permissible current density of copper in open air is approximately 3. 1×106 A/m2 of cross-sectional area, Copper is one of a few metallic elements with a natural color other than gray or silver. Pure copper is orange-red and acquires a reddish tarnish when exposed to air, as with other metals, if copper is put in contact with another metal, galvanic corrosion will occur. A green layer of verdigris can often be seen on old structures, such as the roofing of many older buildings. Copper tarnishes when exposed to sulfur compounds, with which it reacts to form various copper sulfides. There are 29 isotopes of copper, 63Cu and 65Cu are stable, with 63Cu comprising approximately 69% of naturally occurring copper, both have a spin of 3⁄2
7.
Silver
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Silver is a metallic element with symbol Ag and atomic number 47. The symbol Ag stems from Latin argentum, derived from the Greek ὰργὀς, a soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. The metal is found in the Earths crust in the pure, free form, as an alloy with gold and other metals. Most silver is produced as a byproduct of copper, gold, lead, Silver is more abundant than gold, but it is much less abundant as a native metal. Its purity is measured on a per mille basis, a 94%-pure alloy is described as 0.940 fine. As one of the seven metals of antiquity, silver has had a role in most human cultures. Silver has long valued as a precious metal. Silver metal is used in many premodern monetary systems in bullion coins, Silver is used in numerous applications other than currency, such as solar panels, water filtration, jewelry, ornaments, high-value tableware and utensils, and as an investment medium. Silver is used industrially in electrical contacts and conductors, in specialized mirrors, window coatings, Silver compounds are used in photographic film and X-rays. Dilute silver nitrate solutions and other compounds are used as disinfectants and microbiocides, added to bandages and wound-dressings, catheters. Silver is similar in its physical and chemical properties to its two neighbours in group 11 of the periodic table, copper and gold. This distinctive electron configuration, with an electron in the highest occupied s subshell over a filled d subshell. Silver is a soft, ductile and malleable transition metal. Silver crystallizes in a cubic lattice with bulk coordination number 12. Unlike metals with incomplete d-shells, metallic bonds in silver are lacking a covalent character and are relatively weak and this observation explains the low hardness and high ductility of single crystals of silver. Silver has a brilliant white metallic luster that can take a polish. Protected silver has greater optical reflectivity than aluminium at all wavelengths longer than ~450 nm, at wavelengths shorter than 450 nm, silvers reflectivity is inferior to that of aluminium and drops to zero near 310 nm. The electrical conductivity of silver is the greatest of all metals, greater even than copper, during World War II in the US,13540 tons of silver were used in electromagnets for enriching uranium, mainly because of the wartime shortage of copper
8.
Silver coin
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Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks, the ancient Persians used silver coins between 612-330 BC. Before 1797, British pennies were made of silver, as with all collectible coins, many factors determine the value of a silver coin, such as its rarity, demand, condition and the number originally minted. Ancient silver coins coveted by collectors include the Denarius and Miliarense, while more recent collectible silver coins include the Morgan Dollar, other than collectors silver coins, silver bullion coins are popular among people who desire a hedge against currency inflation or store of value. Silver has a currency symbol of XAG under ISO4217. The earliest coins of the world were minted in the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor around 600 BC. The coins of Lydia were made of electrum, which is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, the concept of coinage, i. e. stamped lumps of metal of a specified weight, quickly spread to adjacent regions, such as Aegina. In these neighbouring regions, inhabited by Greeks, coins were made of silver. As Greek merchants traded with Greek communities throughout the Mediterranean Sea and these early Greek silver coins were denominated in staters or drachmas and its fractions. More or less simultaneously with the development of the Lydian and Greek coinages, the Chinese coins, however, were a different concept and they were made of bronze. The coins of the Greeks were issued by a number of city states. The coinage systems were not entirely the same from one place to another, however, the so-called Attic standard, Corinthian standard, Aiginetic standard and other standards defined the proper weight of each coin. Each of these standards were used in places throughout the Mediterranean region. In the 4th century BC, the Kingdom of Macedonia came to dominate the Greek world, the most powerful of their kings, Alexander the Great eventually launched an attack on the Kingdom of Persia, defeating and conquering it. Greek coins were now issued by kings, and only to an extent by cities. Greek rulers were now minting coins as far away as Egypt, the tetradrachm was a popular coin throughout the region. This era is referred to as the hellenistic era, while much of the Greek world was being transformed into monarchies, the Romans were expanding their control throughout the Italian Peninsula. The Romans minted their first coins during the early 3rd century BC, the earliest coins were - like other coins in the region - silver drachms with a supplementary bronze coinage
9.
Mass
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In physics, mass is a property of a physical body. It is the measure of a resistance to acceleration when a net force is applied. It also determines the strength of its gravitational attraction to other bodies. The basic SI unit of mass is the kilogram, Mass is not the same as weight, even though mass is often determined by measuring the objects weight using a spring scale, rather than comparing it directly with known masses. An object on the Moon would weigh less than it does on Earth because of the lower gravity and this is because weight is a force, while mass is the property that determines the strength of this force. In Newtonian physics, mass can be generalized as the amount of matter in an object, however, at very high speeds, special relativity postulates that energy is an additional source of mass. Thus, any body having mass has an equivalent amount of energy. In addition, matter is a defined term in science. There are several distinct phenomena which can be used to measure mass, active gravitational mass measures the gravitational force exerted by an object. Passive gravitational mass measures the force exerted on an object in a known gravitational field. The mass of an object determines its acceleration in the presence of an applied force, according to Newtons second law of motion, if a body of fixed mass m is subjected to a single force F, its acceleration a is given by F/m. A bodys mass also determines the degree to which it generates or is affected by a gravitational field and this is sometimes referred to as gravitational mass. The standard International System of Units unit of mass is the kilogram, the kilogram is 1000 grams, first defined in 1795 as one cubic decimeter of water at the melting point of ice. Then in 1889, the kilogram was redefined as the mass of the prototype kilogram. As of January 2013, there are proposals for redefining the kilogram yet again. In this context, the mass has units of eV/c2, the electronvolt and its multiples, such as the MeV, are commonly used in particle physics. The atomic mass unit is 1/12 of the mass of a carbon-12 atom, the atomic mass unit is convenient for expressing the masses of atoms and molecules. Outside the SI system, other units of mass include, the slug is an Imperial unit of mass, the pound is a unit of both mass and force, used mainly in the United States
10.
Sterling silver
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Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5 by weight of silver and 7.5 by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925 and these replacement metals include germanium, zinc and platinum, as well as a variety of other additives, including silicon and boron. Alloys such as argentium silver have red in recent decades, one of the earliest attestations of the term is in Old French form esterlin, in a charter of the abbey of Les Préaux, dating to either 1085 or 1104. The English chronicler Orderic Vitalis uses the Latin forms libræ sterilensium, the word in origin refers to the newly introduced Norman silver penny. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the most plausible etymology is derivation from a late Old English steorling, there are a number of obsolete hypotheses. One suggests a connection with starling, because four birds were depicted on a penny of Edward I, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. Because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. The Hanseatic League was officially active in the London trade from 1266 to 1597 and this etymology may have been first suggested by Walter de Pinchebek with the explanation that the coin was originally made by moneyers from that region. The claim has also made in Henry Spelmans glossary as referenced in Commentaries on the Laws of England. Yet another claim on this hypothesis is from Camden, as quoted in Chambers Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Arts. By 1854, the tie between Easterling and Sterling was well-established, as Ronald Zupko quotes in his dictionary of weights, the British numismatist Philip Grierson disagrees with the star etymology, as the stars appeared on Norman pennies only for the single three-year issue from 1077–1080. In support of this he cites the fact one of the first acts of the Normans was to restore the coinage to the consistent weight and purity it had in the days of Offa. This would have perceived as a contrast to the progressive debasement of the intervening 200 years. The sterling alloy originated in continental Europe and was being used for commerce as early as the 12th century in the area that is now northern Germany. A piece of sterling silver dating from Henry IIs reign was used as a standard in the Trial of the Pyx until it was deposited at the Royal Mint in 1843 and it bears the royal stamp ENRI. REX but this was added later, in the reign of Henry III and this is equivalent to a millesimal fineness of 926. In Colonial America, sterling silver was used for currency and general goods as well, between 1634 and 1776, some 500 silversmiths created items in the “New World” ranging from simple buckles to ornate Rococo coffee pots. Although silversmiths of this era were typically familiar with all precious metals, stamping each of their pieces with their personal makers mark, colonial silversmiths relied upon their own status to guarantee the quality and composition of their products
11.
Per mille
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A per mille, also spelled per mil, per mill, permil, permill, or permille is a sign indicating parts per thousand. Per mil should not be confused with parts per million, the sign is written ‰, which looks like a percent sign with an extra zero in the divisor. It is included in the General Punctuation block of Unicode characters and it is accessible in Windows using ALT+0137. The term is common in other European languages where it is used in contexts, such as blood alcohol content. Examples of common use include, Legal limits of blood-alcohol content for driving a vehicle in some countries. Seawater salinity, for example, the salinity is 35‰
12.
Gold
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Gold is a chemical element with symbol Au and atomic number 79. In its purest form, it is a bright, slightly yellow, dense, soft, malleable. Chemically, gold is a metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions, Gold often occurs in free elemental form, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, in veins, and in alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the element silver and also naturally alloyed with copper. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium, golds atomic number of 79 makes it one of the higher numbered, naturally occurring elements. It is thought to have produced in supernova nucleosynthesis, from the collision of neutron stars. Because the Earth was molten when it was formed, almost all of the present in the early Earth probably sank into the planetary core. Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia, a mixture of acid and hydrochloric acid. Gold also dissolves in solutions of cyanide, which are used in mining and electroplating. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, but this is not a chemical reaction, as a precious metal, gold has been used for coinage, jewelry, and other arts throughout recorded history. A total of 186,700 tonnes of gold is in existence above ground, the world consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry. Gold is also used in infrared shielding, colored-glass production, gold leafing, certain gold salts are still used as anti-inflammatories in medicine. As of 2014, the worlds largest gold producer by far was China with 450 tonnes, Gold is cognate with similar words in many Germanic languages, deriving via Proto-Germanic *gulþą from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-. The symbol Au is from the Latin, aurum, the Latin word for gold, the Proto-Indo-European ancestor of aurum was *h₂é-h₂us-o-, meaning glow. This word is derived from the root as *h₂éu̯sōs, the ancestor of the Latin word Aurora. This etymological relationship is presumably behind the frequent claim in scientific publications that aurum meant shining dawn, Gold is the most malleable of all metals, a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of 1 square meter, and an avoirdupois ounce into 300 square feet. Gold leaf can be thin enough to become semi-transparent
13.
Platinum
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Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious and its name is derived from the Spanish term platina, translated into little silver. Platinum is a member of the group of elements and group 10 of the periodic table of elements. It has six naturally occurring isotopes and it is one of the rarer elements in Earths crust with an average abundance of approximately 5 μg/kg. It occurs in some nickel and copper ores along with some deposits, mostly in South Africa. Because of its scarcity in Earths crust, only a few hundred tonnes are produced annually, Platinum is one of the least reactive metals. It has remarkable resistance to corrosion, even at high temperatures, consequently, platinum is often found chemically uncombined as native platinum. Because it occurs naturally in the sands of various rivers. Platinum is used in catalytic converters, laboratory equipment, electrical contacts and electrodes, platinum resistance thermometers, dentistry equipment, and jewelry. Being a heavy metal, it leads to health issues upon exposure to its salts, compounds containing platinum, such as cisplatin, oxaliplatin and carboplatin, are applied in chemotherapy against certain types of cancer. Pure platinum is a lustrous, ductile, and malleable, silver-white metal, Platinum is more ductile than gold, silver or copper, thus being the most ductile of pure metals, but it is less malleable than gold. The metal has excellent resistance to corrosion, is stable at temperatures and has stable electrical properties. Platinum reacts with oxygen slowly at high temperatures. It reacts vigorously with fluorine at 500 °C to form platinum tetrafluoride and it is also attacked by chlorine, bromine, iodine, and sulfur. Platinum is insoluble in hydrochloric and nitric acid, but dissolves in hot aqua regia to form chloroplatinic acid and its physical characteristics and chemical stability make it useful for industrial applications. Its resistance to wear and tarnish is well suited to use in fine jewelry, the most common oxidation states of platinum are +2 and +4. The +1 and +3 oxidation states are common, and are often stabilized by metal bonding in bimetallic species. As is expected, tetracoordinate platinum compounds tend to adopt 16-electron square planar geometries, Platinum has six naturally occurring isotopes, 190Pt, 192Pt, 194Pt, 195Pt, 196Pt, and 198Pt
14.
Hallmark
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A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of precious metals—platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term hallmark can also be used to refer to any distinguishing characteristic, historically, hallmarks were applied by a trusted party, the guardians of the craft or more recently by an assay office. Hallmarks are a guarantee of certain purity or fineness of the metal, Hallmarks are often confused with trademarks or makers marks. A hallmark is not the mark of a manufacturer to distinguish his products from other manufacturers products, to be a true hallmark, it must be the guarantee of an independent body or authority that the contents are as marked. Thus, a stamp of 925 by itself is not, strictly speaking, a hallmark, many nations require, as a prerequisite to official hallmarking, that the maker or sponsor itself marks upon the item a responsibility mark and a claim of fineness. Responsibility marks are required in the U. S. if metal fineness is claimed. In some nations, such as the UK, the hallmark is made up of elements, including, a mark denoting the type of metal, the maker/sponsors mark. In England, the year of marking commences on May 19, in other nations, such as Poland, the hallmark is a single mark indicating metal and fineness, augmented by a responsibility mark. These can ease import obligations among and between the signatory states, signatory countries each have a single representative hallmark which would be struck next to the Convention mark which represents the metal and fineness. The control or inspection of precious metals was an ancient concept of examination and marking, a series or system of five marks has been found on Byzantine silver dating from this period, though their interpretation is still not completely resolved. From the Late Middle Ages, hallmarking was administered by local governments through authorized assayers and these assayers examined precious metal objects, under the auspices of the state, before the object could be offered for public sale. By the age of the Craft Guilds, the authorized examiners mark was the masters mark, at one time, there was no distinction between silversmiths and goldsmiths, who were all referred to as orfèvres, the French word for goldsmith. The Master Craftsman was responsible for the quality of the work that left his atelier or workshop, hence the responsibility mark is still known today in French as le poinçon de maître literally the makers punch. Hallmarking is Europes earliest form of consumer protection, modern hallmarking in Europe appears first in France, with the Goldsmiths Statute of 1260 promulgated under Etienne Boileau, Provost of Paris, for King Louis IX. A standard for silver was thus established, in 1275, King Philip III prescribed, by royal decree, the mark for use on silver works, along with specific punches for each communitys smiths. In 1313, his successor, Philippe IV the Fair expanded the use of hallmarks to gold works, in 1327 King Edward III of England granted a charter to the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, marking the beginning of the Companys formal existence. This entity was headquartered in London at Goldsmiths Hall, from whence the English term hallmark is derived, although gold was certainly used for articles, the regulation was silent on standards and hallmarking for gold. In 1355, individual maker marks were introduced in France and this concept was later mirrored in England in 1363, adding accountability to the two systems
15.
Troy weight
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Troy weight is a system of units of mass customarily used for precious metals and gemstones. One troy ounce equals 31.1034768 grams exactly, there are only 12 troy ounces per troy pound, rather than the 16 ounces per pound found in the more common avoirdupois system. However, the pound has 7000 grains whereas the troy pound has only 5760 grains. Both systems use the same grain defined by the international yard, therefore the troy ounce is 480 grains, compared with the avoirdupois ounce, which is 437.5 grains. So the troy ounce is about 10% heavier than the avoirdupois ounce, although troy ounces are still used to weigh gold, silver, and gemstones, troy weight is no longer used in most other applications. One troy ounce of gold is denoted with the ISO4217 currency code XAU, troy weight probably takes its name from the French market town of Troyes in France where English merchants traded at least as early as the early 9th century. The name troy is first attested in 1390, describing the weight of a platter, the word troni refers to markets. Watson finds the dialect word troi, meaning a balance in Wrights Dialect Dictionary, troy weight referred to the tower system, the earliest reference to the modern troy weights is in 1414. Many aspects of the weight system were indirectly derived from the Roman monetary system. The Romans used bronze bars of varying weights as currency, an aes grave weighed 1 pound. One twelfth of an aes grave was called an uncia, or in English an ounce, before the adoption of the metric system, many systems of troy weights were in use in various parts of Europe, among them Holland troy, Paris troy, etc. Their values varied from one another by up to several percentage points, troy weights were first used in England in the 15th century, and were made official for gold and silver in 1527. The British Imperial system of weights and measures was established in 1824, the troy ounce in use today is essentially the same as the British Imperial troy ounce, adopted as an official weight standard for United States coinage by Act of Congress on May 19,1828. The British Imperial troy ounce was based on, and virtually identical with, the pre-1824 British troy ounce, the English troy ounce was officially adopted for coinage in 1527. Troy ounces have been used in England since about 1400, before that, various sorts of troy ounces were in use on the continent. The troy ounce and grain were also part of the apothecaries system and this was long used in medicine, but has now been largely replaced by the metric system. The only troy weight in widespread use today is the British Imperial troy ounce, both are currently based on a grain of 0.06479891 gram, with 480 grains to a troy ounce. The British Empire abolished the 12-ounce troy pound in the 19th century, the origin of the troy weight system is unknown
16.
Perth Mint
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The Perth Mint is Australias official bullion mint and wholly owned by the Government of Western Australia. Along with the Royal Australian Mint, which produces coins of the Australian dollar for circulation, after the foundation stone was laid in 1896 by Sir John Forrest, the Mint opened on 20 June 1899. At that time, Western Australias population was growing rapidly due largely to the discovery of gold deposits in Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie. Although Federation occurred in 1901, the Mint remained under the jurisdiction of Great Britain until 1 July 1970, when it became a statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia. Between 1899 and 1931, the Perth Mint struck more than 106 million gold sovereigns and nearly 735,000 half-sovereigns for use as currency in Australia, the Mint stopped making gold sovereigns when Britain abandoned the gold standard in 1931. Nevertheless, the refinery remained busy as staff turned their skills to making fine gold bullion bars, but it was not long before the Mint was involved again in the production of coins. During World War II, the Perth Mint began minting the Australian coinage from base metals, up until the end of 1983, the Perth Mint also manufactured much of Australias lower-denomination coin currency. The Perth Mint achieved arguably the purest of all gold in 1957 when the mint produced a 13-troy-ounce proof plate of almost six nines -999.999 parts of gold per thousand. The Royal Mint was so impressed that it ordered some of the gold as the benchmark for its own standards, the Mints new direction was formalised in 1987 with the creation of Gold Corporation by a State Act of Parliament. Prime Minister Bob Hawke launched the Australian Nugget Gold Coins Series in 1987, the first days trading yielded sales of 155,000 ounces of gold worth $103 million, well above the sales target of 130,000 ounces to the end of June. Today, the Perth Mint is a member of an group of world mints whose pure gold, silver. Like the Australian Nugget, its Australian Kookaburra Silver Coin Series and Australian Lunar Gold, up to 2000, the Mints refined gold output totalled 4,500 tonnes, representing 3. 25% of the total weight of gold produced by humankind. This is about the current holdings of gold bullion in the United States Mints Fort Knox Bullion Depository, in 2003, the Perth Mint officially opened an 8,400 square metre state-of-the-art manufacturing facility next door to its original limestone building. Dominating the Mints heritage precinct, these two important buildings are powerful symbols of more than 100 years of minting excellence in Western Australia. In October 2011, the Perth Mint created the worlds largest, heaviest and most valuable gold coin, the coin is approximately 80 centimetres in diameter and 12 centimetres thick, and made of 1,012 kilograms of 99. 99% pure gold. It features a red kangaroo on the front of the coin and it is legal tender in Australia with face value A$1 million, but at the time of minting it was valued at A$53.5 million. Today, the Mint continues to provide refining and other services to the industry and manufactures many coin related numismatic items for investors
17.
Royal Canadian Mint
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The Royal Canadian Mint is a Crown corporation of Canada, operating under the Royal Canadian Mint Act. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada, the Mint produces all of Canadas circulation coins, and manufactures circulation coins on behalf of other nations. The Mint also designs and manufactures, precious and base metal coins, gold, silver, palladium. It further offers gold and silver refinery and assay services, the Mint serves the publics interest but is also mandated to operate in anticipation of profit. Like private-sector companies, the Mint has a board of directors consisting of a chair, the president and CEO of the Mint, traditionally, the President of the Royal Canadian Mint is known as the Master of the Mint. The current president is Ian E. Bennett, who was appointed to the position in June 2006 and was re-appointed to a further three-year mandate effective June 12,2011, the Board of Directors, through the Chair, is accountable to the Minister of Finance. The Minister serves as the link between the Mint, Cabinet and Parliament, the Mint was named one of Canadas Top 100 Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc. for four consecutive years. In March 2012 the Canadian Government decided to cease the production of pennies, the final penny was minted at the RCMs Winnipeg, Manitoba plant on the morning of May 4,2012. In April 2012, the Mint announced that it was developing MintChip, for the first fifty years of Canadian coinage, the coins were struck at the Royal Mint in London, though some were struck at the private Heaton Mint in Birmingham, England. As Canada emerged as a nation in its own right, its need for coinage increased, as a result, a branch of the Royal Mint was authorized to be built in Ottawa in 1901 after being first proposed in 1890. During a short ceremony, Lord Grey and his wife, Lady Grey, activated the presses for the Canadian Mint on January 2,1908, when the facility first opened, it had 61 employees. Three years later the Mint began refining gold by electrolysis in its assay department, since then, the Mint’s refinery has undergone several changes and expansions. Today’s process is a combination of chlorination and electrolysis, the silver is first upgraded in an oxygen converter and then refined by electrolysis. It wasn’t until the Great Depression that the Ottawa Mint negotiated its independence from the British Royal Mint, in 1931, the Ottawa Mint was renamed the Royal Canadian Mint and began reporting solely to the Department of Finance. Although the Mint continued to rely on the Royal Mint to produce the master tools required for the creation of its punches and dies, in 1969, the Government of Canada reorganized the Mint as a Crown corporation. As such, the Mint was no longer a branch of the Department of Finance and it would operate like a corporation with its own Board of Directors and increased decision-making powers. The Mint’s facility in Ottawa is currently responsible for producing collector and commemorative coins, bullion in the form of coins, bars, wafers and grain, medals and medallions. This is also where the master tooling is done to create the dies that strike coin designs for circulation and commemorative issues
18.
Canadian Gold Maple Leaf
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The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is a gold bullion coin or ingot that is issued annually by the Government of Canada. It is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint, the Gold Maple Leaf is legal tender. The face value is 50 Canadian dollars, the market value of the metal varies, depending on the spot price of gold. Having a.9999 millesimal fineness, in some cases.99999, the standard version has a weight of minimum 1 troy ounce. Other sizes and denominations include 1 gram, 1⁄25 oz. 1⁄20 oz. 1⁄10 oz. 1⁄4 oz. the Gold Maple Leafs obverse and reverse display, respectively, the profile of Queen Elizabeth II of Canada and the Canadian Maple Leaf. In 2013 and 2015 new security features were introduced, in 2013, a laser-micro-engraved textured maple leaf was added on a small area of the reverse side of the coin. In the centre of this mark is the numeral denoting the year of issue. In 2015, the lines on the coins background on both sides of the coin were added. On 3 May 2007, the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a Gold Maple Leaf coin with a face value of $1 million. It measures 50 cm in diameter by 3 cm thick and has a mass of 100 kg, the coin was introduced in 1979. At the time the bullion coin was the Krugerrand, which was not widely available because of the economic boycott of apartheid-era South Africa. Coins minted between 1979 and 1982 have a content of.999. For.99999 Pure Gold Maple Leafs, see Special issues below, the.99991982 Gold Maple Leafs began minting in November. Thus, most of the 1982 Gold Maple Leafs are.999 fine, some dealers have complained about the production quality of the Gold Maples. The softness of 24 karat gold combined with the Gold Maples milled edge, clear field around the Queen and this is a standard problem with pure gold. As a way of commemorating 25 years as a leader in bullion coins. Mint. ca It was a new maple leaf, set in bullion finish. The six-coin set was the first to include the 1⁄25 oz Maple Leaf denomination, each coin included a double-date of 1979–2004, and the 1 oz coin featured a commemorative privy mark
19.
American Buffalo (coin)
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The American Buffalo, also known as a gold buffalo, is a 24-karat bullion coin first offered for sale by the United States Mint on June 22,2006, and available for shipment beginning on July 13. The coin follows the greatly admired design of the Indian Head nickel and has gained its nickname from the American Bison on the side of the design. This was the first time ever that the United States Government has minted pure 24-karat gold coins for the public, the coin has a legal tender value of US$50. Due to a combination of the popularity and the tremendous increase in the price of gold since its creation the coins value has increased considerably in a short time of just a few years. The initial 2006 U. S. Mint price of the coin was $800. In 2007 the Mint proof coin was $899.95, $1,410.00 in 2009, the design of the American Buffalo gold bullion coin is a modified version of James Earle Frasers design for the Indian Head nickel, issued in early 1913. Generally, Frasers Indian Head nickel design is regarded as among the best designs of any U. S. coins, the same design also was used on the 2001 Smithsonian commemorative coin. The obverse also shows the motto LIBERTY on the top right, the year of mintage on the bottom left, and below that the letter F for Fraser. Also, the motto, IN GOD WE TRUST, appearing on all U. S. gold coins since 1908, can be seen on the reverse of the coin to the left of, and beneath. The U. S. Mint has indicated an expansion of the program, the specially-packaged 8–8-08 Double Prosperity set contains a one-half ounce gold buffalo coin. Weights and measures provided below, Currently, all U. S. bullion coins, including the American Buffalo gold piece, are being struck at the West Point Mint in New York. The 2006 and 2007 coins only have been issued in a version, but in 2008, $5, $10, and $25 face value coins were minted with 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz. After a long wait by both collectors and investors, the version of the American Buffalo gold piece was made available to coin dealers on June 20,2006. Collectors who wanted to purchase the proof version from the mint were given the opportunity to place their orders with the mint beginning on July 22. The 2006 proof quality coin has a strict limit of 300,000. The catalog number of the 2006 proof coin at the U. S. Mint is, the coin was created in order to compete with foreign 24-karat gold bullion coins. Since investors sometimes prefer 99. 99% pure gold over the 91. 67% gold used in the American Gold Eagle, coins, such as the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, to meet their bullion needs. With the American Buffalo coin, the U. S. government hopes to increase the amount of U. S. gold sales and cash in on the 24-karat sales, which makes up about 60% of the world gold market
20.
Chinese Gold Panda
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The Chinese Gold Panda is a series of gold bullion coins issued by the Peoples Republic of China. The Official Mint of the Peoples Republic of China introduced the gold bullion coins in 1982. The panda design changes every year and the Gold Panda coins come in different sizes and denominations, there is also a Silver Panda series issued with the same designs as the Gold Panda coins. China issued its first gold coins picturing a panda design in 1982, in sizes of 1, 1/2, 1/4, beginning in 1983 another size was added - 1/20 oz. Larger panda coins were issued in some years, weighing 5 and 12 oz. These popular coins are issued in prooflike brilliant uncirculated quality with a different design each year, a freeze of the design was announced with the 2001 issues—and thus the 2002 pandas were identical to 2001. But collectors spoke up in behalf of annual changes, and China reverted to their original policy, there are several mints that produce these coins, including but not limited to, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Shenzhen. Unlike coins made by U. S. mints that carry mintmarks to distinguish their origin, in certain years there are minor variations—in the size of the date, style of the temple, etc. —in the coin design that allow the originating mint to be determined. Obverse, Depiction of the Temple of Heaven in the center with Chinese characters on top saying Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo meaning Peoples Republic of China, if the issue is a commemorative issue, the theme will be marked here also. Reverse, Different portraits of panda that changes every year, the official distributor for the Gold and Silver Panda coins in China is the China Gold Coin Corporation, in the United States, Panda America has been an official distributor since 1982. These correspond with 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/10 and 1/20 troy ounces of gold, an exception is 1991, when 1 gram Gold Pandas were minted, issued in the denomination of 3 yuan. 2016 begins a new era for Panda coins, the old weight system of troy ounces will be replaced by the metric system of grams, the standard system of weights used in the People’s Republic of China. For the first time the range of Mint State gold. This change may affect bullion buyers, who calculate their holdings in ounces,2005 Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901–Present. Website of the China Gold Coin Corporation, official distributor of the Chinese panda coins in China
21.
Good Delivery
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It also puts forth requirements for listing on the LBMA Good Delivery List of approved refineries. Good Delivery bars are notable for their size and high purity. They are the normally used in the major international markets and in the gold reserves of governments, central banks. US commodity contracts do not guarantee delivery of gold and silver, all other commodities may be force-delivered instead of simply being settled with a credit to account. Since 2012, US account commodities traders asking for delivery have been routinely denied physical delivery and this is not usually an issue because CBOT and COMEX gold and silver trading has become primarily a derivatives market, since fund managers mostly never intend to take delivery. The document includes specific requirements regarding the fineness, weight, dimensions, appearance, marks and it specifies procedures for weighing, packing, and delivery. It also describes policies for ensuring compliance with the specifications. The current edition of the Good Delivery Rules was published in March 2015, a bars weight may also change by handling or sampling, thus invalidating the original mark. Bars that do not comply with Good Delivery rules are termed Non-Good Delivery, if they are similar to Good Delivery bars but do not fully meet the requirements, they must be stamped with NGD to distinguish them from conforming bars. The LBMA maintains two Good Delivery Lists of approved refineries that meet minimum criteria and have demonstrated their ability to produce Good Delivery bars. Listed companies agree to submit to monitoring by the LBMA and those listed companies that refuse to participate in regular monitoring are removed from the Good Delivery List and added to the Former List. Five companies are accredited by the LBMA as Good Delivery Referees in order to supervise the Good Delivery System and monitor the companies with Good Delivery certification. K
22.
Ducat
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The ducat /ˈdʌkət/ was a gold or silver coin used as a trade coin in Europe from the later medieval centuries until as late as the 20th century. Many types of ducats had various metallic content and purchasing power throughout the period, the gold ducat of Venice gained wide international acceptance, like the medieval Byzantine hyperpyron and the Florentine florin, or the modern British pound sterling and the United States dollar. The word ducat is from Medieval Latin ducatus = relating to a duke, Doge Enrico Dandolo of Venice, whose title means duke, introduced a silver ducat whose types are related to the ducats of Roger II. Later gold ducats of Venice, however, became so important that the name ducat was associated exclusively with them, the Venetian business model of the 13th century was importing goods from the East and selling them at a profit north of the Alps. They paid for goods with Byzantine gold coins but when the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos backed a rebellion called the Sicilian Vespers in 1282. This was just one more in a series of debasements of the hyperpyron, both Florence and Genoa had introduced gold coins in 1252 and the florin of Florence had become the standard European gold coin. Venice modeled the size and weight of their ducat on the florin, the Venetian ducat contained 3.545 grams of 99. 47% fine gold, the highest purity medieval metallurgy could produce. Gold ducat types derive from silver ducat types, which were ultimately Byzantine, the obverse shows the Doge of Venice kneeling before St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice. Saint Mark holds the gospel, which is his usual attribute, the legend on the left identifies the saint as S M VENET, i. e. Saint Mark of Venice, and the legend on the right identifies the doge, with his title DVX in the field. On the reverse, Christ stands among a field of stars in an oval frame, the reverse legend is the same as on Roger II’s ducats. Succeeding doges of Venice continued striking ducats, changing only their name on the obverse, during the 15th century, the value of the ducat in terms of silver money was stable at 124 Venetian soldi, i. e. schillings. The term ducat became identified with this amount of money as well as the gold coin. Conflict between England and Spain in 1567, however, increased the price of gold and upset this equivalence, at this point, the coin was called the ducato de zecca, i. e. ducat of the mint, which was shortened to zecchino and corrupted to sequin. Leonardo Loredan extended the coinage with a half ducat and subsequent doges added a quarter, all of these coins continued to use the designs and weight standards of the original 1284 ducat. Even after dates became a feature of western coinage, Venice struck ducats without them until Napoleon ended the Venetian Republic in 1797. Instead, the Roman coin showed a senator kneeling before St. Peter on the obverse, the Popes subsequently changed these designs, but continued to strike ducats of the same weight and size into the 16th century. Most imitations of the Venetian ducat were made in the Levant, the Knights of Saint John struck ducats with grand master Dieudonné de Gozon, 1346-1353, kneeling before Saint John on the obverse and an angel seated on the Sepulcher of Christ on the reverse. Subsequent Grand masters, however, found it expedient to copy the Venetian types more exactly, first at Rhodes and they struck ducats at Chios that could be distinguished from the Venetian originals only by their workmanship
23.
Sovereign (British coin)
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The sovereign is a gold coin of the United Kingdom, with a nominal value of one pound sterling. Prior to 1932 it was a circulating coin within Britains then Gold Standard currency. Today it is used as a coin and is sometimes mounted in jewellery. Named after the English gold sovereign, last minted in 1604, minting these new sovereigns began in 1817. The gold content was fixed by the act of 1816 at 1320/5607 troy ounces. This weight has remained almost constant — rounding at 10−6 g took place on its legal redefinition in the rather than fractional system of coin weights. Sovereigns have been minted in the United Kingdom from 1817 to 1917, in 1925, in the past Australia, Canada, and South Africa all occasionally minted the coins. Today, they are minted at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales, in addition to the sovereign, the Royal Mint also struck ten-shilling half sovereigns, two-pound double sovereigns, and five-pound quintuple sovereign coins. Only the sovereign and the sovereign were commonly struck for circulation. In 2009, The Royal Mint released a new coin in the sovereign series and this was succeeded by a portrayal of Saint George killing a dragon, engraved by Benedetto Pistrucci. In Victorian times it was the practice of the Bank of England to remove worn sovereigns and half sovereigns from circulation, consequently, although a billion sovereigns have been minted in total, that figure includes gold that has been coined and recoined a number of times. When gold coins were withdrawn from circulation in 1933 in the US. It was actually the half-sovereign that had the most circulation in Victorian Britain, many sovereigns languished in bank vaults for most of their lives. In 1889 and 1890 Orders in Council were made permitting members of the public to hand in any gold coins that were underweight and have them replaced by full-weight coins. A proclamation was issued in November 1890 that any gold coin struck before 1837 would cease to be legal tender with effect from 28 February 1891. This recycled gold was subsequently reminted into 13,680,486 half sovereigns in 1892 and 10,846,741 sovereigns in 1900, Sovereign obverse dies were also used in the nineteenth century to create farthings once they had become worn. Sovereigns were produced in large quantities until World War I, at time the UK came off the gold standard. From then until 1932, sovereigns were produced only at branch mints at Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Bombay, Ottawa, the last regular issue was in 1932
24.
Krugerrand
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For the Ian McNabb album, see Krugerrands. The Krugerrand is a South African gold coin, first minted in 1967 to help market South African gold, by 1980 the Krugerrand accounted for 90% of the global gold coin market. The name itself is a compound of Kruger and rand, the South African unit of currency, during the 1970s and 1980s some Western countries forbade import of the Krugerrand because of its association with the apartheid government of South Africa. Production levels of Krugerrands have significantly varied during the last 50 years, during 1967–1969, around 40,000 coins were minted each year. In 1970, the rose to over 200,000 coins. More than one million coins were produced in 1974, and in 1978 a total of six million Krugerrands were produced. Following the end of apartheid, the production dropped to 23,277 coins in 1998 and since then levels have increased again, the Krugerrand was introduced in 1967 as a vehicle for private ownership of gold. It was minted in a more durable copper-gold alloy than pure gold, economic sanctions against South Africa for its policy of apartheid made the Krugerrand an illegal import in many Western countries during the 1970s and 1980s. These sanctions ended when South Africa abandoned apartheid in 1994, by 1980 the Krugerrand accounted for 90% of the global gold coin market. That year South Africa introduced three smaller coins with a half ounce, quarter ounce, and tenth ounce of gold. Krugerrand coins containing 50 million ounces of gold have been sold, during the great bull market in gold of the 1970s, the gold Krugerrand quickly became the No.1 choice for investors worldwide wanting to buy gold. Between 1974 and 1985, it is estimated that 22 million gold Krugerrand coins were imported into the United States alone, private mints have also attempted minting gold and silver bullion rounds in the style of the Krugerrand. The rounds often depict Paul Kruger and an antelope, some even blatantly copying the design of the Krugerrands themselves. The Krugerrand is 32.77 mm in diameter and 2.84 mm thick, the Krugerrands actual weight is 1.0909 troy ounces. It is minted from gold alloy that is 91. 67% pure, the remaining 8. 33% of the coins weight is copper, which gives the Krugerrand a more orange appearance than silver-alloyed gold coins. Copper alloy coins are harder and more durable, so they can resist scratches, the coin is so named because the obverse, designed by Otto Schultz, bears the face of Boer statesman Paul Kruger, four-term president of the old South African Republic. The reverse depicts a springbok, one of the symbols of South Africa. The image was designed by Coert Steynberg, and was used on the reverse of the earlier South African five shilling coin
25.
American Gold Eagle
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The American gold eagle is an official gold bullion coin of the United States. Authorized under the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985, it was first released by the United States Mint in 1986 and this is particularly true with the 1/4-oz American gold eagle, which has a marked face value of ten dollars. Offered in 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, and 1 oz denominations, by law, the gold must come from sources in America, alloyed with silver and copper to produce a more wear-resistant coin. The 22 kt gold alloy is an English standard traditionally referred to as crown gold. Crown gold alloys had not been used in U. S. coins since 1834, for American gold eagles the gold fraction was increased again to.9167 or. It is authorized by the United States Congress and is backed by the United States Mint for weight, the design is taken from the $20 Saint-Gaudens gold coin which was commissioned by Theodore Roosevelt to create coins like the ancient Greek and Roman coins. The reverse design, by sculptor Miley Busiek, features an eagle carrying an olive branch flying above a nest containing a female eagle. The market value of the coins is generally equal to the market value of their gold content. Like all commodities, this value fluctuates with market forces, the face values are proportional to the weights except for the 1/4 oz coin. Their actual selling prices vary based on the current spot price of gold, the United States Mint also produces proof and uncirculated versions for coin collectors. These coins are produced at the West Point Mint in West Point, the proof and uncirculated versions carry the mints mark beneath the date. Each of the four sizes contains 91. 67% gold, 3% silver, Gold eagles minted 1986–1991 are dated with Roman numerals. In 1992, the U. S. Mint switched to Arabic numbers for dating gold eagles. The 1/10, 1/4, and 1/2 troy oz coins are identical in design to the 1 troy oz coin except for the markings on the side that indicate the weight. These bullion coins carry face values of $5, $10, $25 and these are their legal values reflecting their issue and monetized value as coins. They are legal tender for all public and private at their face values. These face values do not reflect their intrinsic value which is greater and is mainly dictated by their troy weight. In 2012 the U. S. Mint sold the 2012 one ounce coin at $1,835.00
26.
Latin Monetary Union
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It was established in 1865 and disbanded in 1927. Many countries minted coins according to the LMU standard even though they did not formally accede to the LMU treaty, by treaty dated 23 December 1865, France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland formed the Latin Monetary Union. They agreed to a gold and silver standard with a gold-to-silver ratio of 15.5 to 1 as established in the French Franc. One LMU Franc represented 4.5 grams of silver or 0.290322 gram of fine gold. The treaty required that all four contracting states strike freely exchangeable gold coins, before the treaty, for example, the fineness of the silver coins in the four states varied from 0.800 to 0.900. The treaty required that the largest silver coin of 5 francs be struck 0.900 fine, the agreement came into force on 1 August 1866. The LMU served the function of facilitating trade between different countries by setting the standards by which gold and silver currency could be minted and exchanged. In this manner a French trader could accept Italian lire for his goods with confidence that it could be converted back to an amount of francs. Following the International Monetary Conference of 1867, the four nations were joined by Greece on April 10,1867. Greece took advantage of a clause in the treaty that guaranteed admission of foreign states that agreed to abide by the treaty, spain and Romania also considered joining. The discussions broke off unsuccessfully, but both countries made a attempt to conform their currencies to the LMU standard. Austria-Hungary thereafter minted some but not all of its gold coins on the LMU standard, including the 4 and 8 gulden, in 1904, the Danish West Indies were also placed on this standard but did not join the Union itself. Albania did not however mint its own coins, or issue its own paper money until it adopted an independent monetary system in 1925, from the beginning, fluctuations in the relative value of gold and silver on the world market stressed the currency union. This is today recognized as an effect of a currency based on bimetalism when precious metal prices fluctuate. When the LMU was formed in 1865, silver was nearing the end of a period of high valuation compared to gold, in 1873 the value of silver dropped significantly, followed by a sharp increase in silver imports in the LMU countries, particularly in France and Belgium. By 1873, the value of silver made it profitable to mint silver in exchange for gold at the Unions standard rate of 15.5 ounces to 1. Indeed, in all of 1871 and 1872 the French mint had received just 5,000,000 francs of silver for conversion to coin, but in 1873 alone received 154,000,000 francs. Fearing an influx of silver coinage, the nations of the Union agreed in Paris on January 30,1874
27.
Canadian Silver Maple Leaf
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The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf is a silver bullion coin that is issued annually by the Government of Canada. It is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint, the Silver Maple Leaf is legal tender. The face value is 5 Canadian dollars, the market value of the metal varies, depending on the spot price of silver. The 99. 99% silver content makes the coin among the finest official bullion coins worldwide, the standard version has a weight of 1 troy ounce. The Silver Maple Leafs obverse and reverse display, respectively, the profile of Elizabeth II, in 2014, new security features were introduced, radial lines and a micro-engraved laser mark. The Silver Maple Leaf is issued annually by the Government of Canada, introduced in 1988 by the Royal Canadian Mint, there have been three subsequent standard editions and several special editions. The Silver Maple Leafs obverse displays the profile of Elizabeth II, there have been three subsequent versions of the Queens profile, 1988–1989, Portrait by Arnold Machin. 1990–2003, Portrait by Dora de Pédery-Hunt, since 2004, Portrait by Susanna Blunt. The Silver Maple Leafs reverse displays the Canadian Maple Leaf and this design has remained unchanged since 1988. In 2014, however, new security features were introduced, radial lines, also the obverse was affected by this. The phrases CANADA and FINE SILVER1 OZ ARGENT PUR are universal elements, granted a face value of 5 Canadian dollars, the Silver Maple Leaf has status as legal tender. It has also a value that depends on the spot price of silver. With few exceptions and alike similar international bullion coins, the Silver Maple Leaf has a weight of 1 troy ounce, the 99. 99% silver content makes the coin among the finest official bullion coins worldwide. Samples of the Silver Maple Leaf often carry a blemish that has a milky-white appearance and this happens when a cleaning detergent is left on the coin when it goes into the annealing furnace. The Silver Maple Leaf was originally packaged in Mylar, since 2009, due to increasing demand, it is packaged in semi-transparent tubes with a yellow lid bearing the RCM logo. Some special editions have tubes with an orange, red, blue, furthermore, there exist boxes that contain 20 tubes each. The Silver Maple Leaf, a staple of pure silver bullion, was produced in 1oz coins. It was only for the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the SML, unfortunately, due to price and lack of interest, the planned 30,000 10oz SMLs were not sold out, and more than half were taken back for melting
28.
Bullion coin
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A bullion coin is a coin struck from precious metal and kept as a store of value or an investment, rather than used in day-to-day commerce. Under United States law, coins that fail the last of these requirements are not coins at all, bullion coins are usually available in both gold and silver, with the exceptions of the Krugerrand and the Swiss Vreneli which are only available in gold. The American Eagle series is available in gold, silver and platinum, bullion coins are typically available in various weights. These are usually multiples or fractions of 1 troy ounce, bullion coins sell for a premium over the market price of the metal on the commodities exchanges. Reasons include their small size and the costs associated with manufacture, storage. The amount of the premium varies depending on the type and weight. The premium also is affected by prevailing demand, the ISO currency code for gold bullion is XAU. ISO4217 includes codes not only for currencies, but also for precious metals and certain other entities used in international finance, the European Commission publishes annually a list of gold coins which must be treated as investment gold coins in all EU Member States. The list has legal force and supplements the law, in the United Kingdom, HM Revenue and Customs have added an additional list of gold coins alongside the European Commission list. These are gold coins that HMRC recognise as falling within the VAT exemption for investment gold coins, the following list presents only the most common coins included in the European Commission list. Silver coin Palladium coin Platinum coin
29.
Britannia silver
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Britannia silver is an alloy of silver containing 11 ounces and 10 pennyweight silver in the pound troy, i. e. 23/24ths, or 95. 83%, by weight silver, the balance being usually copper. This standard was introduced in England by Act of Parliament in 1697 to replace sterling silver as the standard for items of wrought plate. Britannia standard silver was introduced as part of the great scheme of William III from 1696. Since the hallmarking changes of 1 January 1999, Britannia silver has been denoted by the millesimal fineness hallmark 958, the silver bullion coins of the Royal Mint issued since 1997, known as Britannias for their reverse image, were minted in Britannia standard silver until 2012. Britannia silver should be distinguished from Britannia metal, an alloy containing no silver. Hallmark, A History of the London Assay Office
30.
Rupees
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In the Maldives, the unit of currency is known as the rufiyah, which is a cognate of the Sanskrit rupya. The Indian rupees and Pakistani rupees are subdivided into one hundred paise or pice, the Mauritian and Sri Lankan rupees subdivide into 100 cents. The Nepalese rupee subdivides into one hundred paisas or four sukas or two mohors and it is derived from the noun rūpa shape, likeness, image. The word rūpa is further identified as having sprung from the Dravidian root uruppu, rūpiya was first named to a silver coin weighing 178 grains minted in northern India by Emperor Sher Shah Suri during his brief rule between 1540 and 1545. Suri also introduced copper coins called dam and gold coins called mohur that weighed 169 grains, the Indian rupee was first introduced, issued and termed as rupiya, the silver coin, by Sher Shah Suri, continued by the Mughal rulers. The history of the rupee traces back to Ancient India circa 3rd century BC, Ancient India was one of the earliest issuers of coins in the world, along with the Lydian staters, several other Middle Eastern coinages and the Chinese wen. The term is from rūpya, a Sanskrit term for silver coin, from Sanskrit rūpá, both the Kabuli rupee and the Kandahari rupee were used as currency in Afghanistan prior to 1891, when they were standardized as the Afghan rupee. The Afghan rupee, which was subdivided into 60 paisas, was replaced by the Afghan afghani in 1925, until the middle of the 20th century, Tibets official currency was also known as the Tibetan rupee. The Indian rupee was the currency of Dubai and Qatar until 1959. The Gulf rupee was legal tender until 1966, when India significantly devalued the Indian rupee, in East Africa, Arabia, and Mesopotamia, the rupee and its subsidiary coinage was current at various times. The usage of the rupee in East Africa extended from Somalia in the north, in Mozambique, the British India rupees were overstamped, and in Kenya, the British East Africa Company minted the rupee and its fractions, as well as pice. The rise in the price of silver immediately after the first world war caused the rupee to rise in value to two shillings sterling. In 1920 in British East Africa, the opportunity was taken to introduce a new florin coin. Shortly after that, the florin was split into two East African shillings and this assimilation to sterling did not, however, happen in British India itself. In Somalia, the Italian colonial authority minted rupia to exactly the same standard, the Straits Settlements were originally an outlier of the British East India Company. The Spanish dollar had already taken hold in the Straits Settlements by the time the British arrived in the 19th century, the East India Company tried to introduce the rupee in its place. Formerly, the rupee was divided into 16 annas,64 paise, each circulating coin of British India, until the rupee was decimalised, had a different name in practice. A paisa was equal to two dhelas, three pies and six damaris, other coins for two paisas, two annas, four annas, eight annas were widely in use until decimalization in 1961
31.
Austria-Hungary
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The union was a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and came into existence on 30 March 1867. Austria-Hungary consisted of two monarchies, and one region, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown. It was ruled by the House of Habsburg, and constituted the last phase in the evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and the Hungarian states were co-equal, Foreign affairs and the military came under joint oversight, but all other governmental faculties were divided between respective states. Austria-Hungary was a state and one of the worlds great powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at 621,538 km2, the Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry of the world, after the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was under Austro-Hungarian military and civilian rule until it was annexed in 1908. The annexation of Bosnia also led to Islam being recognized as a state religion due to Bosnias Muslim population. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I and it was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The realms full, official name was The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, each enjoyed considerable sovereignty with only a few joint affairs. Certain regions, such as Polish Galicia within Cisleithania and Croatia within Transleithania, enjoyed autonomous status, the division between Austria and Hungary was so marked that there was no common citizenship, one was either an Austrian citizen or a Hungarian citizen, never both. This also meant that there were always separate Austrian and Hungarian passports, however, neither Austrian nor Hungarian passports were used in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia. Instead, the Kingdom issued its own passports which were written in Croatian and French and it is not known what kind of passports were used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of both Austria and Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary had always maintained a separate parliament, the Diet of Hungary, the administration and government of the Kingdom of Hungary remained largely untouched by the government structure of the overarching Austrian Empire. Hungarys central government structures remained well separated from the Austrian imperial government, the country was governed by the Council of Lieutenancy of Hungary – located in Pressburg and later in Pest – and by the Hungarian Royal Court Chancellery in Vienna. The Hungarian government and Hungarian parliament were suspended after the Hungarian revolution of 1848, despite Austria and Hungary sharing a common currency, they were fiscally sovereign and independent entities. Since the beginnings of the union, the government of the Kingdom of Hungary could preserve its separated. After the revolution of 1848–1849, the Hungarian budget was amalgamated with the Austrian, from 1527 to 1851, the Kingdom of Hungary maintained its own customs controls, which separated her from the other parts of the Habsburg-ruled territories
32.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
33.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
34.
Ceratonia siliqua
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Ceratonia siliqua, commonly known as the carob tree, St Johns-bread, or locust bean, or simply locust-tree, is a species of flowering evergreen shrub or tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible pods, and as a tree in gardens. The ripe, dried pod is often ground to carob powder, Carob bars, an alternative to chocolate bars, are often available in health-food stores. The carat, a unit of mass for gemstones, and of purity for gold, takes its name, indirectly, from the Greek word for a carob seed, the Ceratonia siliqua tree grows up to 15 m tall. The crown is broad and semispherical, supported by a trunk with brown rough bark. Leaves are 10 to 20 cm long, alternate, pinnate and it is frost-tolerant to roughly 20 °F. Most carob trees are dioecious, some are hermaphrodite, the male trees do not produce fruit. The fruit is a legume, that can be elongated, compressed, straight, or curved, the pods take a full year to develop and ripen. The sweet ripe pods eventually fall to the ground and are eaten by mammals, such as swine. The seeds contain leucodelphinidin, a chemical compound. Although used extensively for agriculture, carob can still be growing wild in eastern Mediterranean regions. The common Greek name is, or, meaning wooden horn, in Turkey, it is known as keçiboynuzu, meaning goats horn. The various trees known as algarrobo in Latin America belong to a different subfamily, the carob genus, Ceratonia, belongs to the Fabaceae family, and is believed to be an archaic remnant of a part of this family now generally considered extinct. It grows well in temperate and subtropical areas, and tolerates hot. As a xerophyte species, carob is well adapted to the conditions of the Mediterranean region with 250 to 500 mm of rainfall per year. Carob trees can survive long periods, but to grow fruit. Trees prefer well-drained, sandy loams and are intolerant of waterlogging, after irrigation with saline water in summer, carob trees could possibly also recover during rainfalls in winter. In some experiments young carob trees could uphold basical physiological functions at 40 mmol NaCl/l, not all legume species can develop a symbiosis with rhizobia to use atmospheric nitrogen
35.
Roman emperor
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The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period. The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history, often when a given Roman is described as becoming emperor in English, it reflects his taking of the title Augustus or Caesar. Another title often used was imperator, originally a military honorific, early Emperors also used the title princeps. Emperors frequently amassed republican titles, notably Princeps Senatus, Consul, the first emperors reigned alone, later emperors would sometimes rule with co-Emperors and divide administration of the Empire between them. The Romans considered the office of emperor to be distinct from that of a king, the first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically republican, his successor, Tiberius, nonetheless, for the first three hundred years of Roman Emperors, from Augustus until Diocletian, a great effort was made to emphasize that the Emperors were the leaders of a Republic. Elements of the Republican institutional framework were preserved until the end of the Western Empire. The Eastern emperors ultimately adopted the title of Basileus, which had meant king in Greek, but became a title reserved solely for the Roman emperor, other kings were then referred to as rēgas. In addition to their office, some emperors were given divine status after death. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, Romulus Augustulus is often considered to be the last emperor of the west after his forced abdication in 476, although Julius Nepos maintained a claim to the title until his death in 480. Constantine XI was the last Byzantine Roman emperor in Constantinople, dying in the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, a Byzantine group of claimant Roman Emperors existed in the Empire of Trebizond until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1461. In western Europe the title of Roman Emperor was revived by Germanic rulers, the Holy Roman Emperors, in 800, at the end of the Roman Republic no new, and certainly no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as emperor could be seen as the English translation of imperator, then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, however, Julius Caesar, unlike those after him, did so without the Senates vote and approval. Julius Caesar held the Republican offices of four times and dictator five times, was appointed dictator in perpetuity in 45 BC and had been pontifex maximus for a long period. He gained these positions by senatorial consent, by the time of his assassination, he was the most powerful man in the Roman world. In his will, Caesar appointed his adopted son Octavian as his heir, a decade after Caesars death, Octavians victory over his erstwhile ally Mark Antony at Actium put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed Octavians supremacy. His restoration of powers to the Senate and the people of Rome was a demonstration of his auctoritas, some later historians such as Tacitus would say that even at Augustus death, the true restoration of the Republic might have been possible. Instead, Augustus actively prepared his adopted son Tiberius to be his successor, the Senate disputed the issue but eventually confirmed Tiberius as princeps
36.
Constantine the Great
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Constantine the Great, also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD. Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman Army officer and his father became Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west, in 293 AD. Constantine was sent east, where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian, in 305, Constantius was raised to the rank of Augustus, senior western emperor, and Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia. As emperor, Constantine enacted many administrative, financial, social, the government was restructured and civil and military authority separated. A new gold coin, the solidus, was introduced to combat inflation and it would become the standard for Byzantine and European currencies for more than a thousand years. He called the First Council of Nicaea in 325, at which the Nicene Creed was adopted by Christians, in military matters, the Roman army was reorganised to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. The age of Constantine marked an epoch in the history of the Roman Empire. He built a new residence at Byzantium and renamed the city Constantinople after himself. It would later become the capital of the Empire for over one thousand years and his more immediate political legacy was that, in leaving the empire to his sons, he replaced Diocletians tetrarchy with the principle of dynastic succession. His reputation flourished during the lifetime of his children and centuries after his reign, the medieval church upheld him as a paragon of virtue while secular rulers invoked him as a prototype, a point of reference, and the symbol of imperial legitimacy and identity. Beginning with the Renaissance, there were more critical appraisals of his due to the rediscovery of anti-Constantinian sources. Critics portrayed him as a tyrant, trends in modern and recent scholarship attempted to balance the extremes of previous scholarship. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on his orders at the site of Jesus tomb in Jerusalem. The Papal claim to power in the High Middle Ages was based on the supposed Donation of Constantine. He is venerated as a saint by Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics, though Constantine has historically often been referred to as the First Christian Emperor, scholars debate his actual beliefs or even his actual comprehension of the Christian faith itself. Constantine was a ruler of major importance, and he has always been a controversial figure, the fluctuations in Constantines reputation reflect the nature of the ancient sources for his reign. These are abundant and detailed, but have strongly influenced by the official propaganda of the period. There are no surviving histories or biographies dealing with Constantines life, the nearest replacement is Eusebius of Caesareas Vita Constantini, a work that is a mixture of eulogy and hagiography
37.
Mint (facility)
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A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins that can be used in currency. The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins, in the beginning, hammered coinage or cast coinage were the chief means of coin minting, with resulting production runs numbering as little as the hundreds or thousands. In modern mints, coin dies are manufactured in large numbers, with the mass production of currency, the production cost is weighed when minting coins. For example, it costs the United States Mint much less than 25 cents to make a quarter, metals were well suited to represent wealth, owing to their great intrinsic value and their durability, divisibility and rarity. The first mint was established in Lydia in the 7th century BC, for coining gold, silver. The Lydian innovation of manufacturing coins under the authority of the spread to neighboring Greece. Some of the earliest Greek mints were within city-states on Greek islands such as Crete, at about the same time, coins and mints appeared independently in China and spread to Korea and Japan. The manufacture of coins in the Roman Empire, dating from about the 4th century BC, the origin of the word mint is ascribed to the manufacture of silver coin at Rome in 269 BC at the temple of Juno Moneta. This goddess became the personification of money, and her name was applied both to money and to its place of manufacture, Roman mints were spread widely across the Empire, and were sometimes used for propaganda purposes. The populace often learned of a new Roman Emperor when coins appeared with the new Emperors portrait, Ancient coins were made by casting in moulds or by striking between engraved dies. The Romans cast their larger copper coins in clay moulds carrying distinctive markings, not because they knew nothing of striking, casting is now used only by counterfeiters. The most ancient coins were cast in bulletshaped or conical moulds, the blank or unmarked piece of metal was placed on a small anvil, and the die was held in position with tongs. The reverse or lower side of the received a rectangular mark made by the sharp edges of the little anvil. Subsequently the anvil was marked in ways, and decorated with letters and figures of beasts. The spherical blanks soon gave place to lenticular-shaped ones, the blank was made red-hot and struck between cold dies. One blow was usually insufficient, and the method was similar to that used in striking medals in high relief. With the substitution of iron for bronze as the material for dies, about 300 AD, in the Middle Ages bars of metal were cast and hammered out on an anvil. Portions of the sheets were then cut out with shears
38.
Solidus (coin)
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The solidus, nomisma, or bezant was originally a relatively pure gold coin issued in the Late Roman Empire. Under Constantine, who introduced it on a scale, it had a weight of about 4.5 grams. The Byzantine solidus also inspired the originally slightly less pure Arabian dinar, in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the solidus also functioned as a unit of weight equal to 1/72 of a pound. The solidus was introduced by Diocletian in AD301 as a replacement of the aureus, composed of solid gold. His minting was on a scale, however, and the coin only entered widespread circulation under Constantine I after AD312. Constantines solidus was struck at a rate of 72 to a Roman pound of gold, each coin weighed 24 Greco-Roman carats. By this time, the solidus was worth 275,000 increasingly debased denarii, with the exception of the early issues of Constantine the Great and the odd usurpers the Solidus today is a much more affordable Gold Roman Coin to collect compared to the Older Aureus. Especially those of Valens Honorius and later Byzantine issues, the solidus was maintained essentially unaltered in weight, dimensions and purity until the 10th century. During the 6th and 7th centuries lightweight solidi of 20,22 or 23 siliquae were struck along with the weight issues. Many of these coins have been found in Europe, Russia and Georgia. The lightweight solidi were distinguished by different markings on the coin, usually in the exergue for the 20 and 22 siliquae coins and by stars in the field for the 23 siliquae coins. In theory the solidus was struck from pure gold, but because of the limits of refining techniques, in the Greek-speaking world during the Roman period, and then in the Byzantine economy, the solidus was known as the νόμισμα nomisma. Initially it was difficult to distinguish the two coins, as they had the design, dimensions and purity, and there were no marks of value to distinguish the denominations. The only difference was the weight, the tetarteron nomisma was a lighter coin, about 4.05 grams, but the histamenon nomisma maintained the traditional weight of 4.5 grams. To eliminate confusion between the two, from the reign of Basil II the solidus was struck as a coin with a larger diameter. From the middle of the 11th century the larger diameter histamenon nomisma was struck on a concave flan, former money changer Michael IV the Paphlagonian assumed the throne of Byzantium in 1034 and began the slow process of debasing both the tetarteron nomisma and the histamenon nomisma. Alexius reformed the coinage in 1092 and eliminated the solidus altogether, in its place he introduced a new gold coin called the hyperpyron nomisma at about 20. 5k fine. The weight, dimensions and purity of the hyperpyron nomisma remained stable until the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204, after that time the exiled Empire of Nicea continued to strike a debased hyperpyron nomisma
39.
Ancient Roman units of measurement
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The ancient Roman units of measurement were largely built on the Hellenic system, which in turn was built upon Egyptian and Mesopotamian influences. The Roman units were comparatively consistent and well documented, the basic unit of Roman linear measurement was the pes or Roman foot. Investigation of its relation to the English foot goes back at least to 1647, an accepted modern value is 296 mm. The Roman foot was sub-divided either like the Greek pous into 16 digiti or fingers, frontinus writes in the 1st century AD that the digitus was used in Campania and most parts of Italy. Columella also gives uncial divisions of the jugerum, tabulated by the translator of the 1745 Millar edition as follows, Both liquid. As no two surviving examples are identical, scholarly opinion ranges from 530 ml to 580 ml. Cardarelli gives a value 549.28 ml. A1952 estimate for its value in Pliny the Elders Natural History estimated it as 500 ml.3 ml, which falls comfortably within the accepted range. The core volume units are, amphora quadrantal – one cubic pes congius – a half-pes cube sextarius – literally 1⁄6, of a congius The units of weight or mass were mostly based on factors of 12. Several of the names were also the names of coins during the Roman Republic and had the same fractional value of a larger base unit, libra for weight. Modern estimates of the range from 322 to 329 g with 5076 grains or 328.9 g an accepted figure. The as was reduced from 12 ounces to 2 after the First Punic War, to 1 during the Second Punic War, the divisions of the libra were, The subdivisions of the uncia were, The complicated Roman calendar was replaced by the Julian calendar in 45 BC. In the Julian calendar, a year is 365 days long. Between 45 BC and AD1, leap years occurred at irregular intervals, starting in AD4, leap years occurred regularly every four years. Year numbers were used, rather, the year was specified by naming the Roman consuls for that year. When a year number was required, the Greek Olympiads were used, or the count of years since the founding of Rome, in the middle ages, the year numbering was changed to the Anno Domini count. The Romans grouped days into a cycle called a nundina. Each astrological day was reckoned to begin at sunrise, the Jews also used a seven-day week, which began Saturday evening. The seventh day of the week they called Sabbath, the days they numbered rather than named, except for Friday
40.
Siliqua
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The siliqua is the modern name given to small, thin, Roman silver coins produced in the 4th century A. D. and later. When the coins were in circulation, the Latin word siliqua was a unit of weight defined as one twenty-fourth of the weight of a Roman solidus, siliqua vicesima quarta pars solidi est, ab arbore, cuius semen est, vocabulum tenens. A siliqua is one-twentyfourth of a solidus and the name is taken from the seed of a tree, the term siliqua comes from the siliqua graeca, the seed of the carob tree, which in the Roman weight system is equivalent to 1/6 of a scruple. The term has been applied in modern times to various silver coins on the premise that the coins were valued at 1/24 of the gold solidus and therefore represented a siliqua of gold in value. Since gold was worth about 14 times as much as silver in ancient Rome, there is little historical evidence to support this premise. The term is one of convenience, as no name for these coins is indicated by contemporary sources, thin silver coins to the 7th century which weigh about 2 to 3 grams are known as siliquae by numismatic convention. The majority of examples suffer striking cracks or extensive clipping, Roman currency Hoxne Hoard, a hoard of 14,212 silver siliquae dating from the early 5th century
41.
Metallurgical assay
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A metallurgical assay is a compositional analysis of an ore, metal, or alloy. Some assay methods are suitable for raw materials, others are more appropriate for finished goods, raw precious metals are assayed by an assay office. Silver is assayed by titration, gold by cupellation and platinum by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, precious metal items of art or jewelry are frequently hallmarked. Where required to be hallmarked, semi-finished precious metal items of art or jewelry pass through the official testing channels where they are analyzed or assayed for precious metal content, in the past the assay was conducted by using the touchstone method but currently it is done using X-ray fluorescence. XRF is used because this method is more exacting than the touchstone test, the most exact method of assay is known as fire assay or cupellation. This method is suited for the assay of bullion and gold stocks rather than works of art or jewelry because it is a completely destructive method. The age-old touchstone method is suited to the testing of very valuable pieces, for which sampling by destructive means. A rubbing of the item is made on a stone, treated with acids. Red radiolarian chert or black siliceous slate were used to view the resultant treated streak of the sample, differences in precious metal content as small as 10 to 20 parts per thousand can often be established with confidence by the test. It is not indicated for use with white gold, for example, the modern X-ray fluorescence is also a non-destructive technique that is suitable for normal assaying requirements. It typically has an accuracy of 2 to 5 parts per thousand and is well-suited to relatively flat and it is a quick technique taking about three minutes, and the results can be automatically printed out by computer. It also measures the content of the alloying metals present. It is not indicated, however, for articles with chemical treatment or electroplating. The process for X-ray fluorescence assay involves melting the material in a furnace, following this, a sample is taken from the centre of the molten sample. Samples are typically using a vacuum pin tube. The sample is tested by X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy. Metallurgical assay is typically completed in this way to ensure that an accurate assay is performed, X-ray Fluorescence assay is not as accurate as fire-assay but dependent on the spectrometer used, can achieve results of within 1 percent. The most elaborately accurate, but totally destructive, precious metal assay is fire-assay, if performed on bullion to international standards, the method can be accurate on gold metal to 1 part in 10,000
42.
X-ray fluorescence
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X-ray fluorescence is the emission of characteristic secondary X-rays from a material that has been excited by bombarding with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays. When materials are exposed to short-wavelength X-rays or to gamma rays, ionization consists of the ejection of one or more electrons from the atom, and may occur if the atom is exposed to radiation with an energy greater than its ionization energy. X-rays and gamma rays can be enough to expel tightly held electrons from the inner orbitals of the atom. The removal of an electron in this way makes the structure of the atom unstable. In falling, energy is released in the form of a photon, thus, the material emits radiation, which has energy characteristic of the atoms present. The term fluorescence is applied to phenomena in which the absorption of radiation of a specific energy results in the re-emission of radiation of a different energy, each element has electronic orbitals of characteristic energy. Following removal of an electron by an energetic photon provided by a primary radiation source. There are a number of ways in which this can happen. The main transitions are given names, an L→K transition is traditionally called Kα, an M→K transition is called Kβ, an M→L transition is called Lα, and so on. Each of these transitions yields a fluorescent photon with an energy equal to the difference in energy of the initial and final orbital. Once sorted, the intensity of each characteristic radiation is directly related to the amount of element in the material. This is the basis of a technique in analytical chemistry. Figure 2 shows the form of the sharp fluorescent spectral lines obtained in the wavelength-dispersive method. In order to excite the atoms, a source of radiation is required, conventional X-ray generators are most commonly used, because their output can readily be tuned for the application, and because higher power can be deployed relative to other techniques. However, gamma ray sources can be used without the need for a power supply. When the energy source is a synchrotron or the X-rays are focused by an optic like a polycapillary, as a result, atomic information on the sub-micrometre scale can be obtained. X-ray generators in the range 20–60 kV are used, which allow excitation of a range of atoms. The continuous spectrum consists of bremsstrahlung radiation, radiation produced when high-energy electrons passing through the tube are progressively decelerated by the material of the tube anode, a typical tube output spectrum is shown in figure 3
43.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
. PMID 17148413.