Meanings of transmute base in английском

For centuries they believed they could transmute base metals into gold and silver.

For centuries philosophers searched for that Philosopher's Stone that was to transmute base metals into gold.

Perhaps Adam Smith was right, that in turning strangers into honorary friends, exchange can transmute base self-interest into general benevolence.

"If I knew that I'd be making a living transmuting base metals into gold."

And, as a man is always of his time, he believed in alchemy and in the possibility of transmuting base metals into gold.

For centuries men have tried to discover the secret of transmuting base metals into gold, and how to make diamonds by chemical means.