[raybbr]

Made from more than 85 per cent gold, weighing 4.33g and showing almost no sign of wear, the coin was struck in 805-810 during the reign of Coenwulf...

The detail on the coin is incredible. How did the relief stand up to 1200 years of freezing and thawing and changes in humidity, temperature and pressures under a footpath? Something is fishy here.

How did they determine the gold content without taking a sample?

[Phil Connors]

How did they determine the gold content without taking a sample?
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Elementary. Ask Archimedes. "Eureka!"