Editing Electrum (section)

==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]]''. It is also mentioned in the Bible, in the first chapter of the book of the prophet [[Ezekiel]]. 
 
===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>