ELECTRUM AND THE INVENTION OF COINAGE
Joseph Linzalone

I have always been interested in electrum coinage, butunfortunately have never owned one. There are a smallnumber of books on the subject and most of the booksare relatively expensive, up to and above $200. Thesebooks are not readily available off the shelf and I amhesitant to purchase one sight unseen. I met a dealer atthe last Ogden show with two copies of this book and Iwas able to flip through it and was impressed so I purchased a copy. The price was $95 which is still fairlyexpensive but after looking at it I made the purchase.

Although written in 2011 the information was what Iwas looking for. The title "Electrum and The Inventionof Coinage" is very accurate as electrum was indeedthe first coinage in the world dating from 660 BC inIonia and Lydia in what is now western Turkey.

Electrum is a natural alloy of gold and silver usuallyfound in small pieces (or nuggets) in local rivers andstreams. Initially it was stamped with crude markingsand through the years designs were impressed. Goldcontent did not matter but rather basic size and weightis what determined value.

The book is quite informative and is illustrated in full color with hundreds of specimens identifiedand pictured.

The book measures 6x9 and is published hardcover and in full color. It consists of 231 pages andI found it contains excellent information and easy reading. Electrum truly was the invention ofcoinage and again with a price of $95 I found the book a great value for my library.

For more information on the Utah Numismatic Society, see:
https://www.facebook.com/UtahNumismaticSociety

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: ELECTRUM AND THE INVENTION OF COINAGE(https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n45a04.html)