A very pale yellow, natural
alloy of gold with between twenty and fifty per
cent silver, found in the rivers of Asia Minor and used by the Egyptians as early
as 5000 BC for gold artefacts and by 3100 BC as standardised gold bars
for exchange. Early coins were also made
of electrum. Around 2000 BC the Egyptians mastered the technique of separating
out the gold and silver.
In modern terminology, electrum
may describe any gold alloy where the proportion of silver is sufficient to affect
the colour.