| Author |
 Replies: 15 / Views: 2,289 |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
I just had a splurge on a few coins... the most expensive of which was this one.  I bought it from V-coins, and it is a first for me since I don't have any gold or electrum ancients. It weights similar to the rest of the hektes on there and I think it is more attractive than some of them but it seemed to be quite a bit cheaper than most of them so I couldn't resist adding it to my collection. The other two coins I will upload soon. One is a Thasos Tet, and the other a Pheonica AE. Will have to go to the bank later and pay in some money :S or else they might start panicking... |
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
1006 Posts |
Loving it mate, great pickup :D
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Netherlands
1204 Posts |
great taste you have! very nice coin!
|
|
Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3443 Posts |
Quote:
I just had a splurge on a few coins... Glad you wiped it all off before you took the pics  Very nice coin ....... I like electrum but don't expect to ever own one. |
|
Valued Member
Canada
242 Posts |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
Thanks guys... will probably be the only electrum I will ever own but nice to own one as an example.
The only problem now is the wait for the postman... he is never quick enough when I am rubbing my hands together waiting for my goodies to arrive!
One question though... is Electrum 50% silver 50% gold (ie 12ct gold) or what was the standard back then? The colour isn't as rich as 18ct, and is deeper than 9ct...so I am guessing it is in the 12-14ct range but would be nice to know for sure.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
711 Posts |
I am not sure on the electrum percentages, but I think it was naturally occurring in various percentages and minted as such. Wild speculation on my part.
Great looking piece.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3443 Posts |
Electrum was a naturally occurring alloy found in a particular region of Anatolia. As I recall It varied in content with 50% being the norm but plus minus ranging around 10%.
For this reason it was an unreliable measure of value.
The pale lemon color while pretty cannot match the screaming yellow of .999 gold.
Ancient gold while not .999 still usually assays in the 99% range.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
Thanks for the info...
There are pro's and con's to pure gold though. The top jewellers favour 18ct over pure gold since a little silver and copper in the mix gives a good balance of colour and durability. Pure gold being a bit crumbly and soft.
Generally the less gold the harder the material, 9ct gold is very hard but is almost silver in colour.
I didn't realise that electrum was naturally occurring though... and maybe one day I will stretch to a gold ancient (if I win the lottery or something) but for the time being this is the next best thing.
These are amongst some of the earliest coinage, and due to the material they seem to have survived quite well. For that reason alone I find them interesting, the material is an added bonus.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
Excellent Greek Electrum is neat of which I have one. I do have one 8 gram Electrum dinar of the Kidarite Huns but that could hardly be considered Greek. The electrum in the case of the dinar is man made rather than natural. It seems they took a medium sized gold coin and a medium sized silver coin and made pretty large electrum coin.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4971 Posts |
wow, nice. man that calf is dang near perfect....I'm pretty jealous of that one DUK. there was a discussion here about electrum not long ago, the wikipedia page sums it up well I think... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrum |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
567 Posts |
Wow amazing pickup! I was spending a fair bit of time looking at this one myself! (I didn't contemplate buying it because it was way out of my price range) but it was beautiful! Glad to see it ended up in the good care of a forum member! One day I'll get an electrum piece...
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
I have looked at the type for a long time but couldn't bring myself to spend the money. If you were looking at this you realise that though expensive it was comparatively cheap for the type - which is what kicked me over the edge.
The way my mind works is that I am happier spending 250 on something I think should be 350 than 55 on something I think should be 50. (even when it is a stretch)
I am having to do a bit of overtime this weekend to pay for the coin but these are the sacrifices one must make for impulse purchases.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
870 Posts |
|
| |
Replies: 15 / Views: 2,289 |
|
Posted 08/22/2015 08:38 am
