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Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver , with trace amounts of copper and other metals. It has also been produced artificially, and is often known as green gold. The ancient Greeks called it 'gold' or 'white gold', as opposed to 'refined gold'. Its colour ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver.
This suggests that one reason for the invention of coinage in that area was to increase the profits from seigniorage by issuing currency with a lower gold content than the commonly circulating metal. Electrum was used as early as the third millennium BCE in Old Kingdom of Egypt , sometimes as an exterior coating to the pyramidions atop ancient Egyptian pyramids and obelisks. It was also used in the making of ancient drinking vessels. The first metal coins ever made were of electrum and date back to the end of the 7th century or the beginning of the 6th century BCE.
For several decades, the medals awarded with the Nobel Prize have been made of gold-plated green gold. The name electrum was also used to denote German 'silver' , mainly for its use in making technical instruments.
The same word was also used for the substance amber , likely because of the pale yellow colour of certain varieties.
It is from amber's electrostatic properties that the modern English words "electron" and "electricity" are derived. Electrum was often referred to as " white gold " in ancient times, but could be more accurately described as "pale gold", as it is usually pale yellow or yellowish-white in colour.
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-coloured gold. Electrum consists primarily of gold and silver but is sometimes found with traces of platinum , copper , and other metals. Analysis of the composition of electrum in ancient Greek coinage dating from about BCE shows that the gold content was about In the Hellenistic period , electrum coins with a regularly decreasing proportion of gold were issued by the Carthaginians.
In the later 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.
Electrum is mentioned in an account of an expedition sent by Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt see Sahure. It is also discussed by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia. Electrum 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.
In Lydia , electrum was minted into 4. Three of these coins with a weight of about To complement the stater, fractions were made: Larger denominations, such as a one stater coin, were minted as well. Because of variation in the composition of electrum, it was difficult to determine the exact worth of each coin. Widespread trading was hampered by this problem, as cautious foreign merchants offered poor rates on local electrum coin.
These difficulties were eliminated in BCE when pure silver coins were introduced. However, electrum currency remained common until approximately BCE. The simplest reason for this was that, because of the gold content, one From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the metal alloy.
For the sculpture, see Electrum sculpture. For the color, see Green-yellow. For the Israeli figure, see Zvika Greengold. This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. April Learn how and when to remove this template message.
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