Mercury silvering Mercury silvering Mercury silvering or fire gilding is a silvering technique for applying a thin layer of precious metal such as silver or gold (mercury gilding) to a base metal object. The process was invented during the Middle Ages and is documented in Vannoccio Biringuccio's 1540 book "De la pirotechnia". An amalgam of mercury and the precious metal is prepared and applied to the object which is then heated, sometimes in oil, vaporizing most of the mercury. The technique is dangerous since mercury is highly toxic, especially in its vapor phase. Mercury silvering can be detected through a variety of
Mercury(I) sulfide over metallic mercury in a closed bottle for over 5 years developed a crust over the metal that was found to be mercurous sulfide. Mercury(I) sulfide Mercury(I) sulfide or mercurous sulfide is a hypothetical chemical compound of mercury and sulfur, with elemental formula . Its existence has been disputed; it may be stable below 0 °C or in suitable environments, but is unstable at room temperature, decomposing into metallic mercury and mercury(II) sulfide (mercuric sulfide, cinnabar). This compound was described in the 19th century by Berzelius as a black precipitate obtained by passing hydrogen sulfide through solutions of mercury(I) salts.