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Electrum
A few years back (late 2002, early 2003), I published an article in THE
CELATOR about electrum. My motivation for writing it was the erroneous claim on rec.collecting.coins by Reid Goldsborough that Croesus of Lydia put the world on a bimetallic standard. Reid Goldsborough's webpages are all very interesting, loaded with pictures and citations and heavily larded with words. The best analogy I can offer is the difference between someone with an MBA who takes care of other people's money and an entrepreneur like Bill Gates who dropped out of Harvard but spent a lot of time playing poker. So, too, with Reid Goldborough's websites. They have a patina of authority, but they lack an ineffable quality of insight. ELECTRUM For about 300 years, most "gold" coins were struck in this sometimes natural alloy of gold and silver. Electrum continues to be a modern coinage metal. All of the 93 oldest known coins uncovered at the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos are electrum. Electrum is an alloy of gold with silver and traces of other metals. Natural and artificial electrum served as the most common form of "gold" coinage until about 330 BC when nominally pure gold coins from Philip II of Macedon, and his son Alexander, flooded the Greek world. Even after Alexander, electrum money continued. Carthage issued electrum coins. So did the Roman emperor Severus Alexander as did the Romaion ("Byzantine") emperors of Constantinople. A thousand years later, in America, the United States Mint considered a "goloid" electrum coinage. New electrum coins still appear on the market today. Metallurgical Context The definition of what is electrum is somewhat arbitrary. All geologists agree that electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, usually with measurable copper and trace residues of other metals. Some geologists define electrum narrowly as being 35% silver to 45% silver. For others electrum ranges in composition from 1% to 99% silver. Gold-rich electrum occurs in sulfide-poor deposits. In such cases, the range of gold is narrow. Copper (along with bismuth and tellurium) occurs generally in gold-rich electrum. Silver-rich electrum occurs in sulfide-rich deposits. The range of silver varies widely. Lead (along with tin, zinc, and selenium) occurs in silver-rich electrum. major snippage BIBLIOGRAPHY Baldwin, Agnes. The Electrum Coinage of Lampsacus, (New York: The American Numismatic Society, 1914). Baldwin, Agnes. The Electrum and Silver Coins of Chios Issued During the 6th, 5th, and 4th Centuries B.C. (New York, The American Numismatic Society, 1914). Bodenstedt, Friedrich, Die Elektronmuenzen von Phokaia und Mytlene, (Tuebingen: Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, 1981). Davies, Roy P. ), Subject: The Invention of Coins, Newsgroups: rec.collecting.coins, sci.econ, alt.politics.economics, Date: 2000/07/13 Figueira, Thomas. The Power of Money: Coinage and Politics in the Athenian Empire, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998). Greenwell, William. The Electrum Coinage of Cyzicus, (London: Rollin and Feuerabent, 1887). Harl, Kenneth W. Coinage in the Roman Economy 300 B.C. to A.D. 700, (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996). Jenkins, G. K., and Lewis, R. B. Carthaginian Gold and Electrum Coins, (London: Royal Numismatic Society, 1963). Jones, John R. Melville. Testimonia Numaria: Greek and Latin Texts Concerning Ancient Greek Coinage (London: Spink, 1993). Marotta, Michael E., "Electrum Sixths and the Treaty of Mytilene," Classical Numismatic Review (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) Vol. 20-2, Summer 1995. Nimchuk, Cindy L, "Andrew Ramage, Paul Craddock, King Croesus' Gold: Excavations at Sardis and the History of Gold Refining, Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, 11," in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2001.08.10 Robinson, E.S.J, "The Coins from the Ephesian Artemesion Reconsidered," Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1951. Shikazono, Naotatsu and Shimizu, Masaaki, Electrum: Chemical Composition, Mode of Occurrence, and Depositional Environment (Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1988). Taxay, Don. The U.S. Mint and Coinage, (New York: Arco Press, 1966). www. Harvard University Press/King Croesus' Gold Young, William J. "The Fabulous Gold of the Pactolus Valley," Bulletin: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Vol. LXX No. 359, 1972. |
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