[Jewelry making - Article 00410] - Re: [Orchid] Platinum enhanced sterling?

[Gary Bourbonais]

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Hi Folks.....

    As a coin nut.....it's believed that some of the first coinage was
    of electrum.... Whether natural or man made alloy...this would put it
    back about 650 BC...... The Lydians.... 

    The natural alloy was roughly 80% gold, 20% silver (1 part silver, 4
    parts gold).....with other stuff Ma Nature throws in.... It mighta
    been tweaked for durability, and, er....governmental
    considerations....for coinage.... 

    A while back, I was interested in electrum as a jewelry material.... 

    Prowled Ebay, and the stuff was greenish......Which did not seem to
    correspond to the ancient description.... 

    Wikipedia has a mention to the Third Millenium BC.....in
    Egypt.....but no actual doc as far as I saw..... Apparently they used
    gold or electrum (thinly, no doubt) to cover the pyramid tips..... 

    Not a whole lot of surviving literature from 3000 BC floating around
    at that.....so it's hard to say.... 

    Believe it's in the Bible, too.... 

Gary W. Bourbonais
A.J.P. (GIA)
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