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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tetsujin28" data-source="post: 1544973" data-attributes="member: 1478">Electrum is a naturally occuring combination of gold and silver. The content ranged from 55.5% to 40% over the passage of time (this is a statistical range). It was rather in vogue as coinage c. 650 BC in Ionia, but went out of fashion c. 100 years later. Syracuse kept striking electrum 'till 345 BC. Incidentally, these are the oldest coins we have from classical antiquity.Despite its rarity, electrum is not considered as valuable as gold, since along with silver, there's usually some trace minerals included, further devaluing the coin. Also, why make a gold & silver coin, when you can make gold and silver coins? So nearly every Greek polis went over to the silver standard Why Gygax electrum (which might as well be Gygaxium) occured is a real question. Simply based on the gold standard, there had to be electrum floating all over the place.A brief, but insightful, overview of coin practices up to the Middle Ages can be found <a href="http://www.culture.gr/nm/presveis/Pages/info/Reference/Production.html" target="_blank">here</a>.Cheers!</blockquote>