Electrum
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Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver.
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 Phoenician bowl 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. 625–600 BC (Louvre)
Lydia
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Lydia was an Indo-European Iron Age kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital w
Electrum
…at Ephesus, are currently dated to the first half of the 7th century BC (c.650 BC). Electrum is believed to have been used in coins c. 650-575BC in Lydia during the reign of Alyattes. Electrum was much better for coinage than gold, mostly because it was harder and more durable, but also because techniques…
The temple of Artemis in Sardis, capital of Lydia
Tripolis on the Meander is an ancient Lydian city in Turkey.
Büyük Menderes River, also known as the Maeander, is a river in Lydia.
Gyges tablet, British Museum