(April 2017) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Įlectrum is mentioned in an account of an expedition sent by Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt (see Sahure). Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. 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. ![]() 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 BCE, the gold content averaged 40% to 41%. In the early classical period, the gold content of electrum ranged from 46% in Phokaia to 43% in Mytilene. Analysis of the composition of electrum in ancient Greek coinage dating from about 600 BCE shows that the gold content was about 55.5% in the coinage issued by Phocaea. The name is mostly applied informally to compositions between about 20–80% gold and 20–80% silver atoms, but these are strictly called gold or silver depending on the dominant element. 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.Įlectrum consists primarily of gold and silver but is sometimes found with traces of platinum, copper, and other metals. 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 same word was also used for the substance amber, likely because of the pale yellow colour of certain varieties, and it is from amber's electrostatic properties that the modern English words "electron" and "electricity" are derived. The name "electrum" is the Latinized form of the Greek word ἤλεκτρον ( èlektron), mentioned in the Odyssey referring to a metallic substance consisting of gold alloyed with silver. The name electrum was also used to denote German 'silver', mainly for its use in making technical instruments. (January 2013) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification. For several decades, the medals awarded with the Nobel Prize have been made of gold-plated green gold. ![]() 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. It was also used in the making of ancient drinking vessels. 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.Įlectrum 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. The gold content of naturally occurring electrum in modern Western Anatolia ranges from 70% to 90%, in contrast to the 45–55% of gold in electrum used in ancient Lydian coinage of the same geographical area. Its colour 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'. It has also been produced artificially, and is often known as green gold. ![]() Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals.
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