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Red Glass - Birmingham's Lost Gold
Wednesday 07 March, 2012
News Brief

Birmingham's Lost Gold

Full Story:

Red Glass – Birmingham’s lost gold

It is little known that the red colouration in ruby, garnet and cranberry glass is the result of gold “pigment”

We do not profess to understand the exact chemistry or mechanics of manufacturing red glass, suffice to say the starting point is getting the noble metal into solution – a feat unto itself using a mix of both concentrated Hydrochloric and Nitric Acids – known to the ancients as Aqua Regia.

The extraordinary accomplishment for which a patent was awarded in 1755 to Meyer Oppenheim was to introduce compounds containing dissolved gold into hot molten glass in such a way that the gold was “struck” back out of solution forming minute particles in a colloidal suspension within the glass. The mechanism was not understood at the time but we now know that gold particles interact with light to produce the distinctive ruby red glass colour.

Probably due to the availability of gold “saw dust” arising from established button and trinket manufacturers and with the potential for reciprocal trade of his glass products in the jewelry quarter Oppenheim set up the first, and presumably quite small specialist glass factory in the Snow Hill area of Birmingham in 1757.

However, the ultimate loss to Birmingham was threefold: Meyer Oppenheim lost his business in 1777 and was detained in a debtors prison. The site of the glass works were lost under the foundations of Snow Hill railway station in the mid 19th century, and in spite of gold being one of the worlds most recycled metals with an estimated 84% of all gold that has ever been mined still being in existence, the amazing nano-particles of gold trapped in red glass are “lost” forever.

Extra Information:

For more information, please visit this related link:  Buy Red Glass Chippings.



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Red Glass - Birmingham's Lost Gold
Red Glass - Birmingham's Lost Gold
Red Glass - Birmingham's Lost Gold
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