View source for Electrum

{{Short description|Alloy of gold and silver}}
{{other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Electron}}
[[File:Electrum on quartz Telluride (cropped).jpg|thumb|Natural electrum "wires" on quartz, historic specimen from the old Smuggler-Union Mine, [[Telluride, Colorado]], USA]]
[[File:Πακτωλός.jpg|thumb|The [[Pactolus]] river, from which [[Lydia]] obtained electrum for its early coinage]]
[[File:Cup Idalion Louvre N3455.jpg|thumb|Electrum [[Phoenician metal bowls|Phoenician bowl]] with mythological scenes, a sphinx frieze and the repre&shy;sentation of a king vanquishing his enemies, Cypro-Archaic I, from [[Idalion]], 8th–7th centuries BC ([[Louvre]], Paris)]]
[[File:Griffin protome Louvre Bj39.jpg|thumb|Brooch with a griffin [[protome]], from the necropolis of [[Kameiros]], Rhodes, {{circa| 625–600 BC}} ([[Louvre]])]]

'''Electrum''' is a naturally occurring [[alloy]] of [[gold]] and [[silver]],<ref name= EB1911>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Electrum, Electron |volume=9 |page=252}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/coinage/|title=Coinage|website=worldhistory.org |date=28 April 2011 }}</ref> with trace amounts of [[copper]] and other metals. <!-- The ancient Greeks called it "gold" or "white gold", as opposed to "refined gold".{{cn|date=July 2022}}  -->Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. It has been produced artificially and is also known as "[[Colored gold#Green gold|green gold]]".<ref name= natbuild>Emsley, John (2003) [https://archive.org/details/naturesbuildingb0000emsl/page/168 Nature's building blocks: an A–Z guide to the elements]. Oxford University Press. p. 168. {{ISBN|0198503407}}.</ref>

Electrum was used as early as the third millennium BC in the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt]], sometimes as an exterior coating to the [[pyramidion|pyramidia]] atop [[ancient Egypt]]ian [[pyramid]]s and [[obelisk]]s. It was also used in the making of ancient [[Beaker (archaeology) |drinking vessels]]. The first known metal [[coin]]s made were of electrum, dating back to the end of the 7th century or the beginning of the 6th century BC.

==Etymology==
The name ''electrum'' is the [[Latin]]ized form of the [[ancient Greek]] word ἤλεκτρον (''ḗlektron''), meaning amber or an alloy of [[gold]] and [[silver]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, ἤλεκτρον |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=h)/lektron |access-date=2025-07-09 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> Electrum was often referred to as "white gold" in ancient times.

==Composition==
Electrum consists primarily of gold and silver but is sometimes found with traces of platinum, copper and other metals. The name is mostly applied informally to compositions between 20–80% gold and 80–20% silver, but these are strictly called gold or silver depending on the dominant element. Analysis of the composition of electrum in ancient Greek coinage dating from about 600 BC shows that the gold content was about 55.5% in the coinage issued by [[Phocaea]]. In the early [[Classical Greece|classical period]] the gold content of electrum ranged from 46% in Phocaea to 43% in [[Mytilene]]. In later coinage from these areas, dating to 326 BC, the gold content averaged 40% to 41%. 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.{{how much?|date=March 2024}}{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

==History==
[[File:BMC 06.jpg|thumb|[[Lydia#First coinage|Lydian]] electrum coin (one-third [[stater]]), one of the oldest known coins, early 6th century BC]]
[[File:Histamenon nomisma-Alexius I-sb1776.jpg|thumb|Electrum coin of the [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Alexius I Comnenus]], {{circa|1080}}]]
[[File:Mumified head IMG 0515.jpg|thumb|upright|A mummified male head covered in electrum, from [[Ancient Egypt]], Roman period, 2nd century AD ([[Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon]])]]

Electrum is mentioned in an account of an expedition sent by Pharaoh [[Sahure]] of the [[Fifth Dynasty of Egypt]]. It is also discussed by [[Pliny the Elder]] in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis Historia]]''. 
 
===Early coinage===
The earliest known electrum coins, [[Croeseid|Lydian coins]] and [[Anatolia|East Greek]] coins found under the [[Temple of Artemis]] at [[Ephesus]], are currently dated to the last quarter of the 7th century BC (625–600 BC).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kurke |first1=Leslie |title=Coins, Bodies, Games, and Gold: The Politics of Meaning in Archaic Greece |date=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0691007365 |pages=6–7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eFxCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |language=en}}</ref> Electrum is believed to have been used in coins c. 600 BC in [[Lydia]] during the reign of [[Alyattes]].<ref name="WM49"/>
<!-- Please click the "discussion" tab located at the top of this web page before changing this date. -->

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. 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. This 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 pure silver coins.<ref name="NC609">{{cite book |last1=Cahill |first1=Nick |last2=Kroll |first2=John H |title=New archaic coin finds at Sardis, AJA 109 (2005). |pages=609–614 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2465277 |language=en}}</ref>

In Lydia, electrum was minted into coins weighing {{Convert|4.7|g|oz}}, each valued at {{frac|3}} ''[[stater]]'' (meaning "standard"). Three of these coins—with a weight of about {{Convert|14.1|g|oz}}—totaled one stater, about one month's pay for a soldier. To complement the stater, fractions were made: the ''trite'' (third), the ''hekte'' (sixth), and so forth, including {{frac|24}} of a stater, and even down to {{frac|48}} and {{frac|96}} of a stater. The {{frac|96}} stater was about {{Convert|0.14|g|oz}} to {{Convert|0.15|g|oz}}. 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 the intrinsic value of each electrum coin could not be easily determined.<ref name="WM49">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trkUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA49|chapter=Asia Minor to the Ionian Revolt|last1=Konuk|first1=Koray|title=The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2012|isbn=9780199372188|editor-last=Metcalf|editor-first=William E.|pages=49–50|language=en}}</ref> This suggests that one reason for the invention of coinage in that area was to increase the profits from [[seigniorage]] by [[Debasement|issuing currency with a lower gold content]] than the commonly circulating metal.

These difficulties were eliminated circa 570 BC when the [[Croeseid]]s, coins of pure gold and silver, were introduced.<ref name="WM49"/> However, electrum currency remained common until approximately 350 BC. The simplest reason for this was that, because of the gold content, one 14.1&nbsp;gram stater was worth as much as ten 14.1&nbsp;gram silver pieces.

<gallery mode="packed" widths="200" heights="100">
File:Ephesos 620-600 BC FANEOS.jpg|Electrum coin from [[Ephesus#Archaic period|Ephesus]], 620–600 BC
File:Electrum trite, Alyattes II, Lydia, 610-560 BC.jpg|Electrum trite of [[Alyattes of Lydia]], 610–560 BC
File:MYSIA, Kyzikos. Early–mid 4th centuries BC. Portrait of Timotheos.jpg|Electrum coin from [[Cyzicus]], [[Mysia]], early–mid 4th century BC
File:Statère en électrum de Zeugitane représentant un cheval debout.jpg|Electrum stater, [[Carthage]], {{circa| 300 BC}}
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Corinthian bronze]] – a highly prized alloy in antiquity that may have contained electrum
*[[Crown gold]] - A 22 carat gold alloy highly valued for its use in gold coins from the 16th century onwards
*[[Hepatizon]]
*[[Orichalcum]] – another distinct metal or alloy mentioned in texts from classical antiquity, later used to refer to brass
*[[Panchaloha]]
*[[Shakudō]] – a Japanese [[Billon (alloy)|billon]] of gold and copper with a dark blue-purple patina
*[[Shibuichi]] – another Japanese alloy known for its patina
*[[Thokcha]] – an alloy of [[meteoric iron]] or "thunderbolt iron" commonly used in [[Tibet]]
*[[Tumbaga]] – a similar material, originating in [[Pre-Columbian|Pre-Columbian America]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://rjohara.net/coins/lydia-electrum/ Electrum lion coins of the ancient Lydians (about 600 BC)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901113714/http://rjohara.net/coins/lydia-electrum/ |date=2021-09-01 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160925094133/http://www-cm.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/East-West/images/Ancient_01_obv.gif An image of the obverse of a Lydian coin made of electrum]

{{Jewelry}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Gold]]
[[Category:Coinage metals and alloys]]
[[Category:Precious metal alloys]]
[[Category:Silver]]
[[Category:Copper alloys]]