Touch Needles (replica)
date: label: Date made
content: 1962
name: label: maker
content: Eichner, Laurits Christian
notes: label: Description
content: A touch needle is a small needle of gold, either pure or alloyed with silver in a known proportion, designed for trying the fineness of a gold or silver item by comparing the streaks made by the needle and by the article on a touchstone. The technique was described by a Greek poet in the 6th century B.C.E., and has been used by European goldsmiths since the 12th century C.E. This example is a modern replica of the set described in Georgius Agricola, <i>De Re Metallica</i> (1556). It consists of 24 needles, each 2-inches long, made of either solid gold, or gold/silver alloys.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Chemistry
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CH.322008
label: catalog number
content: 322008
label: accession number
content: 245903
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Touch Needles (replica)
label: Object Name
content: touch needles (replica)
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: each needle: 2 in; 5.08 cm