Estimates are made of the proportions of gold, silver, and copper in many personal ornaments and coins from English hoards and collection. All the objects date from the 6th or 7th century A.D. Most of the coins are imports from north and northwest Europe, but some are Byzantine. Two techniques were used, one being the ordinary x-ray fluorescence method for the analysis of surface metal, the other being the use of the x-ray milliprobe for the analysis of metal just below the surface. The surface metal of many of the coins was found to have a higher gold content than the metal just below the surface, and in some the difference was considerable. The color of mediaeval gold and electrum coins is not a reliable index to their fineness. -- AATA