Editing Electrum (section)

{{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}}</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.