Carbon Steel Success—How XRF Helped ID an Ancient Helmet
Our Vanta™ handheld XRF analyzer was recently featured on an episode of the popular History Channel TV show Pawn Stars. In the show, people bring items into the shop to potentially sell, trade, or pawn. Often, people don’t have a lot of information about the items that they’re bringing in. To determine a fair price, outside expertise can be required to get more information. That’s where a tool like the Vanta analyzer can help.
On this episode, a customer brought in a helmet that they thought was made of iron. An expert was able to confirm that the piece was an authentic Anglo-Saxon helmet that was about 1500 years old. The helmet was in excellent condition, making it a rare find. Typically, iron breaks down in the presence of oxygen, so the helmet likely ended up in a low-oxygen environment, such as a bog or river.
It was important to know the helmet’s material chemistry, as the Anglo Saxons worked in iron and carbon steel. An expert used a Vanta analyzer to test the helmet using X-ray fluorescence to determine its elemental composition.
n just a few seconds, the Vanta analyzer confirmed that the helmet was made of carbon steel.
The screenshot below shows the analyzer obtained an exact grade match. The helmet was made from 99.76% iron with traces of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), etc.
An Anglo Saxon helmet of this age and quality is truly a rare find.
