Was white gold used for making any coins from BC100 to AD400?

icsoccer

I just purchased a small collection and 1 appears to be white gold? Being a nubie in this area I
am wondering if white gold was used to mint coins in this time frame?
Thanks in advance!

lordmarcovan

Yes, absolutely.

The Roman aureus and solidus coins, for starters.

lordmarcovan

... but none of them should look like "white" gold, to my knowledge.

Edit- sorry, when I first read your title I thought it just said "was gold used", not "was white gold used".

Some of the earliest coins were struck in electrum, a gold-silver alloy. You would think a mixture of gold and silver might be whitish, but all the examples I personally have seen have the yellow color of gold. By 100 BC electrum was not as commonly used, either, I don't think.

icsoccer

I will add pic tomorrow so you can see the coin.
Thank You!

CIVITAS

There should not be genuine coins from that time period made from white gold. Any "white" coins from that time are likely silver of some form.

Lynch

<< <i>I just purchased a small collection and 1 appears to be white gold? Being a nubie in this area I
am wondering if white gold was used to mint coins in this time frame?
Thanks in advance! >>



If by "white gold" you mean platinum, then the answer is no.

Platinum was not used in circulating coinage until Russia issued platinum coins in 3, 6 and 12 ruble denominations in the first half of the 19th century.

Platinum was also used by counterfeiters to make fake gold coins because platinum was much less valuable than gold at the time. Gold-plated contemporary counterfeits in platinum of Spanish & Spanish colonial gold coins are offered for sale occasionally, although I cannot recall seeing any recently.