Electrum in Ezekiel

First coins were more than just currency

Excerpt:

The world's first coins appeared around 600 B.C., jingling around in the pockets of the Lydians, a kingdom tied to ancient Greece and located in modern-day Turkey. They featured the stylized head of a lion and were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver.

Wikipedia: Electrum

Excerpt:

Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Colour ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. Gold content of naturally-occurring electrum in modern Western Anatolia ranges from 70% to 90% in contrast to the 45-55% of electrum used in ancient Lydian coinage of the same geographical area.

Electrum was used as early as the third millennium BC in Old Kingdom Egypt, sometimes as an exterior coating to the pyramidions atop ancient Egyptian pyramids and obelisks.

Electrum was also used in the making of ancient drinking vessels and coins.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Electrum

The Revised Version, margin rendering of chashmal, of Ezekiel 1:4,27; 8:2 Septuagint elektron, Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 AD.) electrum). Both the King James Version and the English Revised Version have "amber" while the American Standard Revised Version has "glowing metal." Gesenius says electrum must not be understood as being here used for amber, but for a kind of metal remarkable for brightness, compounded of gold and silver. "Amber" is undoubtedly a poor rendering, as the Hebrew term means "polished brass." the American Standard Revised Version has the more correct rendering. Amber, however, may well have been known to Ezekiel (Encyclopaedia Biblica).

Ezekiel 1:4; Ezekiel 1:27; Ezekiel 8:2 (English Standard Version)

Comment: Image from Wikipedia