The discrepancy between gold content of electrum from modern Western Anatolia (70–90%) and ancient Lydian coinage (45–55%) suggests that the Lydians had already solved the refining technology for silver and were adding refined silver to the local native electrum some decades before introducing the pure silver coins cited below. Įlectrum is believed to have been used in coins circa 600 BC in Lydia under the reign of Alyattes II.Įlectrum was much better for coinage than gold, mostly because it was harder and more durable, but also because techniques for refining gold were not widespread at the time. The word also appears in Sumerian texts for instance, in the lost book, when Enki tells his master scribe (Edubsar) to write down all that he says, the text mentions a stylus of electrum with a crystal at the tip that glowed. In all three instances it is used to describe a type of glow seen in visions by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel Ch.1 Vs.4 and 27 Ch. if the Septuagint's translation of the uncertain term חַשְׁמַל is accurate). It is also discussed by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia.Įlectrum is possibly referred to three times in the Bible (i.e. HistoryĮlectrum is mentioned in an expedition sent by Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt (see Sahure). The modern use of the term white gold usually concerns gold alloyed with any one or a combination of nickel, silver, platinum and palladium to produce a silver-colored gold. Electrum was often referred to as white gold in ancient times but could be more accurately described as "pale gold". The same word was also used for the substance amber, probably because of the pale yellow color of certain varieties, and it is from the electrostatic properties of amber that the modern English words "electron" and "electricity" derive. The colour of electrum is pale yellow or yellowish-white and the name is a Latinized form of the Greek word ἤλεκτρον ( elektron) mentioned in the Odyssey meaning a metallic substance consisting of gold alloyed with silver. In the later Roman (eastern Roman) empire controlled from Constantinople, the purity of the gold coinage was reduced, and an alloy that can be called electrum began to be used. In the Hellenistic period electrum coins with a regularly decreasing proportion of gold were issued by the Carthaginians. In later coinage from these areas, dating to 326 BC, the gold composition averaged 40% to 41%. In the early classical period, the gold composition of electrum ranged from 46% in Phokaia to 43% in Mytilene. As a result, electrum is a good conductor of electricity.Īnalysis of the electrum composition in ancient Greek coinage dating from about 600 BC shows that the gold composition was about 55.5% in the coinage issued by Phocaea. This suggests that one reason for the invention of coinage in that area was to increase the profits from seignorage by issuing currency with a lower gold content than the commonly circulating metal.Įlectrum was used as early as the third millennium BC in Old Kingdom Egypt, sometimes as an exterior coating to the pyramidions atop ancient Egyptian pyramids and obelisks.Įlectrum was also used in the making of ancient drinking vessels and coins.Įlectrum consists primarily of gold and silver but is sometimes found with traces of platinum, copper and other metals. The gold content of naturally occurring electrum in modern Western Anatolia ranges from 70% to 90%, in contrast to the 45–55% of electrum used in ancient Lydian coinage of the same geographical area. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. The ancient Greeks called it 'gold' or 'white gold', as opposed to 'refined gold'. Electrum coin of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus.Įlectrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals.
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