t 132 ] 



XXII. Observations on the Purity of Standard Gold. By 

 M. Fabbroni, of Florence, corresponding Member of 'the 

 French Institute, To which are subjoined Notes by 

 ili. D'Arcet, Assay Master of the French Mint*, 



Almost all naturalists (following perhaps implicitly the 

 assertion of Pliny t) maintain that native gold is never 

 found pure; i.e. entirely free from alloy, chiefly of silver, 

 and that the finest is scarcely from 0*575 to 0*917, or 21 or 

 22 carats. The gold iu dust, in spangles, or in sand, which 

 is brought from Africa, is most frequently within these li- 

 mits. I have seen some gold from the country of Barn- 

 buck in Africa, which was 0*927, or 22 carats and one- 

 fourth -, in the mint of Florence it has also been seen at 

 0*958, or 23 carats -. this gold had been brought from 

 Morocco. The carat in Tuscany is divided into eighths. 



It is probable that in the early ages money was coined 

 with native gold, in the state in which it was found, there 

 being no grounds for supposing that they took pains to 

 refine it. 



It has been thought that the oldest gold coin known is 

 that of Battus IV, which was melted or struck at Cyrene 

 in Africa in the time of Pisistratus : it does not appear that 

 the standard of this gold was known. Of all the Grecian 

 coins which are in the hands of the collectors of medals, 

 the most ancient are the beautiful pieces of Philip the fa- 

 ther of Alexander. That enterprising man, who from his 

 infancy conceived the idea of ascending the throne of 

 Macedon, and becoming master of Greece, was fortunate 

 enough to find several rich mines of gold, which he knew 

 how to prize. Mount Pangea annually furnished him with 

 gold to the amount of 5,22p,000 francs, and from thence 

 he derived the most powerful resources for the success of 

 his political designs and military talents. It is not known 

 whether this metal of Philip's underwent any particular 

 operations before parsing to the mint. There are some 



* Annates de Chimie, tomehxti. p. 25. 



f Pliny says, lib. 33, that there is »o kind of gold more perfect than 

 spangle gold » that gold obtained by searching the beds of rivers does not 

 require melting, and that it is native and perfect gold. But Pliny says in 

 the same book that lead is more malleable and heavier than gold ; which 

 proves that the gold which he regarded a? pure was in reality an alloy. 

 He says likewise a little further on, that all gold is mixed with silver, and 

 that the gold which is the least alloyed with silver camefrom Albicratum 

 in Gaul, and that it contained only J d . From all this it is evident that 

 Pliny's opinion is not to be followed, Mil recourse must be had to experi- 

 ments. 



grounds, 



