kuyumcu toprağı literally is "jeweller's earth", but dictionaries and internet search come up with nothing. if what's meant is "kuyumcu tozu" (jeweller's powder) then it is borax (=boraks in turkish). but it will be very helpful if you provide more context, at least the whole sentence.

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Note added at 17 hrs 32 mins (2004-01-27 19:38:00 GMT)
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you\'re not wrong about the coin matrix, \"die\" can also be used, though, pls check the following link:

http://www.bartleby.com/65/di/die.html

on a second thought, \"kalıp\" doesn\'t specify whether it\'s male or female, but the concept is closer to female=matrix, of course.


as for \"kuyumcu toprağı\"... no success yet, sorry :(

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Note added at 1 day 6 hrs 40 mins (2004-01-28 08:45:43 GMT)
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I\'m not sure, but I **might** have gotten it. Please check the link below:

http://www.biltek.tubitak.gov.tr/dergi/97/mayis/caglarin2.ht...

where we learn that fine-grained sand is used to polish or burnish coin surfaces - albeit, in 2500 BC, but chances are the essential techniques have remained the same (\"Bazı eserlerin üzerindeki ince çizgilerden perdahlamanın ince kumla yapıldığı anlaşılmaktadır\" and further down, \"İnce kumla perdah yapıldıktan sonra en son perdah için akiğin de kullanılmış olabileceği belirtilmektedir\").

I reached to this link googling with the keywords \"sikke yapımı\", however, come up with only this one link, unfortunately. But now it makes more sense that 1) your English word should be \"goldsmith\" but not \"jeweller\" 2) \"sand\" is probably more appropriate to use than \"earth\".

One should be cautious of one thing, though: \"bir miktar kuyumcu toprağı bulundu\" may suggest a particular type of sand, or (still)chemical powder ?? used in coin manufacture. (Otherwise, a pinch of sand could be found in anyone\'s pocket.) On the other hand, the link above suggests the use of ordinary sand - the grain size might matter only. So, in case we cannot find any further info, it might be safer to use an expression like \"sand used coin manufacture\" instead of coining a term :) And please feel free to ask for help with the text in the link, in case you need any.

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Note added at 1 day 6 hrs 42 mins (2004-01-28 08:47:27 GMT)
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SORRY:

\"sand used coin manufacture\"

should correct as: \"sand used in coin manufacture\"