Composition
Electrum consists primarily of gold and silver but is sometimes found with traces of platinum, copper and other metals. Analysis of the composition of electrum in ancient Greek coinage dating from about 600 BC shows that the gold composition was about 55.5% in the coinage issued by Phocaea. In the early classical period, the gold content of electrum ranged from 46% in Phokaia to 43% in Mytilene. In later coinage from these areas, dating to 326 BC, the gold content averaged 40% to 41%. In the Hellenistic period electrum coins with a regularly decreasing proportion of gold were issued by the Carthaginians. In the later Roman (eastern Roman) empire controlled from Constantinople, the purity of the gold coinage was reduced, and an alloy that can be called electrum began to be used.
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