Search for Isotopic Anomalies in Alchemical Silver Coins from the Germanischen National Museum in Nuremberg

Abstract

We analyzed six silver coins of supposedly alchemical origin. They were manufactured during the 17th and 18th centuries, and kept in the Germanischen National Museum in Nuremberg in Germany. We did both nondestructive chemical and isotopic analysis. Silver has two stable isotopes, and our measurements indicate that the silver of all the coins have natural isotopic composition. We conclude that the silver contained in these coins is not of artificial origin. This does not prove that alchemists did not succeed in transmuting metals, but we have shown that the silver of these six coins is most likely of natural origin.