I'm a highschool student and as part of an investigatory project, I have decided to analyse which metals are present in our everyday coins.
I chose this because in my previous academic year, I had learnt how to analyze the cations present in inorganic salts and I employed the same systematic analysis method that I had learnt to test the presence of metal cations in some coins.
Obviously, I cannot expect the coin analysis to go exactly like the salt analysis. I would have to ignore certain tests like the 'flame test'.
Could you please tell me what precaustions I should take for this experiment? I wish to write up a clear and systematic process by which any student / coin collector can easily do in a laboratory with only common chemicals and salts.
All advice, resources and tips will be most appreciated.