Quality control of coins mint using PIXE and RBS analysis

PIXE and RBS analysis is used to investigate the elemental content of modern Lebanese coins, in order to control their minting quality. The coins of interest were 100, 250 and 500 Lebanese Lira (LL), which are mainly bulky metals with or without coated layer. Using 3 MeV protons, proton induced X-ray emission PIXE identified and quantified elements while Rutherford backscattering spectrometry RBS checked the thickness of the coated layer. Indeed, the combination of PIXE and RBS provides a powerful tool to investigate the elemental composition of coins, either modern or ancient. In addition, the experimental protocol was checked by analyzing some other coins of known composition, such as 1-euro and 2-euro.