NNP

Amalgam.  Any soft metal alloy from which a medallic item is cast or struck; an alloy without specific formulation, as pot metal, which is pliable to some degree. An item made of amalgam does not easily retain its fabricated shape and is always subject to soft metal distortion. Originally, any alloy of mercury; which possessed the characteristic of easy deformation.

References:                                                                                                                                 

NE14 {1934} Webster's Unabridged, p 79.

excerpted with permission from

An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology

For Artists, Makers, Collectors and Curators

COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY D. WAYNE JOHNSON

Roger W. Burdette, Editor