%0 Journal Article
%T Comparing the Ag-content of poltinniks using X-ray fluorescence
%A S Ferguson
%A S Williams
%J Physics
%D 2013
%I arXiv
%X X-ray fluorescence experiments have been performed in order to analyze the elemental composition of four Russian 50-kopek coins ("poltinniks") minted during 1913, 1921, and 1924. By comparing the intensities of the Ag K{\alpha} X-rays emitted by the poltinniks, we were able to determine whether the Ag-content of the coins were equal. One of the goals of this study was to determine whether or not legislation was carried out that required the proportions of Ag and Cu used in the minting of coins in 1924 to be identical to those minted in previous years. Also, the intensities of the Ag K{\alpha} X-rays emitted by 1924 poltinniks minted in London and Leningrad were compared. Our results suggest that the percent difference in the proportions of Ag present in each of the coins is no more than 5.5%.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.2690v1