The atomic nuclide with the highest mean binding energy

It seems to be widely believed that 56Fe is the most tightly bound atomic nuclide. Data are compiled showing that this is not so: Both 58Fe and 62Ni are more strongly bound than 56Fe, with 62Ni having the highest mean binding energy. Reasons for the erroneous favoring of 56Fe are canvassed. The history of atomic‐mass measurements does not provide an explanation, nor does the liquid‐drop model; an analysis using this model shows that, if we could switch off shell effects and allow both the atomic number and the mass number to be fractional, but retain the underlying liquid‐drop characteristics of real nuclei, then the most tightly bound nuclide would have A≊58.3, Z≊26.6. It seems that belief in 56Fe as the most tightly bound atomic nuclide may originate from studies of stellar nucleosynthesis.