Tombac Público Deposited
- Tombac. A copper-zinc alloy. Tombac has a wide latitude of formulation, as the copper content can be from 82 to 99% with zinc from 18 to 1%. The higher zinc content (over 15%) would have a yellow brass color and has been called such names as Mannheim gold, Dutch metal, Price's metal and others. For modern numismatic items the term has come from the jewelry trade, which had used it as a cheap metal, for its gold imitation color (in high zinc formulations) and as a gilding metal for plating. Israel has issued tombac medals since 1959. See composition (2), bronze (chart).
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