The project aims to use state-of-the-art methods to derive detail about the provenance of precious silver artefacts. Specifically, we will seek to understand what detail is being missed, using current assaying approaches. The project will showcase what insights, at different length scales, could be seen using techniques that range from low cost equipment that could be acquired in an assay office, specialised testing at a university lab medium cost, to high cost ultra-high resolution national facility methods. This broad approach will offer several verification methods; the choice could be linked and justified by the value of an article. The activities here are motivated by the need to provide robust, defensible datasets that can verify precious metal article authenticity. Greater data will enable smart approaches with assigned probabilities of authenticity to aid hallmarking practices. Partnering with the Goldsmiths' Company Assay Office in London, this project will analyse and authenticate precious silver metal artefacts by uncovering their hidden chemical and structural signatures. Using powerful techniques such as micro-XRF, synchrotron diffraction, SIMS, and 3D X-ray CT, it will reveal how variations in composition, microstructure, and metal-making processes shape an object's unique metal pedigree. The research will probe beneath surfaces to detect impurities and internal features, while also exploring new methods for embedding invisible authenticity markers. Finally, advanced data tools and neural network algorithms will turn these high-resolution insights into searchable, verifiable databases, seeking to better inform assay decision making.
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