Definition

• Bell Metal.  The bronze alloy for making bells can be used successfully for striking or casting medals. Bell metal alloy is best at 78 parts copper to 22 parts tin (which has a specific gravity of 8.7 and a melting point of 870° centigrade); but any alloy of 3 to 5 parts of copper to 1 of tin have been used for bell making. The first reference to a medal in bell metal is a Desiderius Erasmus Medallion of 1519 by Quentin Massys (Kress 629a).  See bronze, composition (2).
  References:                                                                                                                                
  NC5 {1951} National Gallery of Art.

  excerpted with permission from

  An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology

  For Artists, Makers, Collectors and Curators

  COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY D. WAYNE JOHNSON

  Roger W. Burdette, Editor

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