Characterization of bronze Roman coins of the fifth century called nummi through different analytical techniques

A research study was funded and carried out at the University of Padua, which focused on the bronze coinage produced in the western part of the Roman and Byzantine Empires during the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. with the aim to develop a protocol of investigation based on EDXRF and SEM-EDS analysis. The study was conducted to analyze and reinforce numismatic classification of these coins. The samples included 150 Roman, Byzantine, and imitative coins issued during these periods. Most of these were nummi dated to fifth century and the results of these investigations were compared with analysis of similar and contemporary coins, which were minted in the eastern part of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. The investigations focused on 12 of these coins, which were examined by combining destructive and nondestructive analysis to obtain the widest number of information.