Abstract
The origins of the concept of transmutation of base metals into gold are explained. This central tenet of alchemy is considered to have grown out of the gilding operations practised in antiquity. It is shown that many of the features of transmutation described in the most ancient alchemical texts accord with the practice of depletion gilding of copper alloys as applied to the production of Corinthian Bronze. Corinthian Bronze had its heyday in Rome and the eastern Mediterranean at the beginning of the Christian era when it was used to adorn the great eastern gate of the Temple of Jerusalem. Its original centre of production appears to have been Alexandria where, significantly, alchemy is also reputed to have had its beginnings.
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