Billon
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Billon".

Billon is an alloy of a precious metal (most commonly silver, but also gold) with a majority base metal content (such as copper). It is used chiefly for making coins, medals, and token coins.

The word originates from the middle Latin billo, meaning "a coin containing mostly copper", or just "unit of payment".

Use of billon coins date through Middle Ages to ancient Greece. During 6th and 5th century BC, some cities on Lesbos island used coins made of 60% copper and 40% silver. In both ancient times and the middle ages, leaner mixtures were adopted, with less than 2% silver content.^[1][2]

See also

• Metal
• Bullion
• List of alloys
• Antoninianus

References

1. ^ DIOCLETIAN AND CONSTANTINE
2. ^ American Treasure and the Price Revolution in Spain, 1501-1650

External links

• National Pollutant Inventory - Copper and compounds fact sheet

This alloy–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.