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-colored 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" because it is usually pale yellow or yellowish-white in color. It is from amber’s electrostatic properties that the modern English words electron and electricity are derived. The same word was also used for the substance amber, likely because of the pale yellow color of certain varieties. The name electrum is the Latinized form of the Greek word ἤλεκτρον ( ḗlektron), mentioned in the Odyssey referring to a metallic substance consisting of gold alloyed with silver. The first known metal coins made were of electrum, dating back to the end of the 7th century or the beginning of the 6th century BC. It was also used in the making of ancient drinking vessels. Įlectrum was used as early as the third millennium BC in Old Kingdom of Egypt, sometimes as an exterior coating to the pyramidions atop ancient Egyptian pyramids and obelisks. It has been produced artificially, and is also known as " green gold". Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. 625–600 BC ( Louvre)Įlectrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Natural electrum "wires" on quartz, historic specimen from the old Smuggler-Union Mine, Telluride, Colorado, USA The Pactolus river, from which Lydia obtained electrum for its early coinage Electrum cup with mythological scenes, a sphinx frieze and the representation of a king vanquishing his enemies, Cypro-Archaic I, from Idalion, 8th–7th centuries BC ( Louvre, Paris) Brooch with a griffin protome, from the necropolis of Kameiros, Rhodes, c. For the Israeli figure, see Zvika Greengold. "Green gold" and "Greengold" redirect here.
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