Friday Trivia

Electrum is a rather interesting metal. It is a gold, silver, and copper alloy (though, perhaps solely gold and silver alloys could also go by the same name). Primarily used as a currency by ancient Greece, Byzantium, and Egypt (through trade with the first two nations), it was popular because it was harder than gold and more valuable by weight than silver. It eventually fell into disuse in favor of silver since silver represented a better known value to foreign merchants selling goods across different markets. Since electrum could be made with different percentages of gold vs. silver, it worked in local markets where these percentages were consistent, however Athenian electrum might be much heavier with gold than Spartan electrum.

Raul