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Return to article on gold standards, 1815-1914 CE.
Chester L. Krause and Clifford Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Coins-- Eighteenth Century, Krause Publications, Iola WI, 1993
Richard G. Doty, The MacMillan Encyclopedic Dictionary of Numismatics, MacMillan, New York, 1982
Albert R. Frey, Dictionary of Numismatic Names, Barnes & Noble, 1947
R.S. Yeoman, A Guide to U.S. Coins: 43rd Edition, Western Publishing Co., Racine WI, 1989
Caution:
d-- The name "doubloon" was also sometimes used for smaller gold coins, worth about $2.
v-- Weight of "shekel" sometimes varied in different societies.
Return to article on gold standards, 1815-1914 CE.
1. References
Chester L. Krause and Clifford Mishler, 1994 Standard Catalog of World Coins, Krause Publications, Iola WI, 1993
3. Weights
grains grams pennyweight
grain 1 0 .0648
pennyweight 24 1 .555 1
ounce troy (standard bullion measure) 480 31 .103 20
pound troy (12 oz. troy) 5760 373 .242 240
ounce avdp (avoirdupois) 437 .5 28 .35
pound avdp (16 oz. avdp) 7000 453 .6
7. Trade Coinages (widely recognized bullion coins)
Computed values (C): $1 = 1.505 grams gold or 24.06 grams silver.
(1) The 1/16 gold-to-silver ratio used here overvalues ancient gold against ancient silver coins.
(2) Computed values assume 100% purity of the bullion metal. For example, the silver rupee of British India (1862-1939), though weighing 11.66 grams, was only 91.7% silver, yielding a bullion value of $0.444 rather than the $0.486 shown here.
Gold coins
Notes:name area date weight value (1800s USA) valuation source Notes (See below)
daric Persian Empire 515-330 BCE 8 .3 grams $5 .51 C
stater Macedon 359-200 BCE 8 grams $5 .32 C
talent (weight) Greece 359-200 BCE 24 kilograms $16,000 E v
solidus Byzantium 324-969 CE 4 .4 grams $2 .92 C
(other names: byzant, bezant)
dinar Arabs 694-1150 CE 4 .4 grams $2 .92 C
ducat Venice 1280-1819 CE 3 .5 grams $2 .33 C
(other names: zecchino, sequin)
florin Florence 1250-1550? CE 3 .5 gm. $2 .33 C
(later depreciated to silver)
other names: gulden [German], guilder, zloty [Polish]
doubloon Spain 1600-1800 CE 27 gm. $16 E d
louis d'or France 1726-1777 CE 8 .16 gm. $5 .42 C
guinea England 1660-1799 CE 8 .4 gm. $5 .25 E
sovereign England 1817-1914 CE 7 .99 gm. $5 E
napoleon France 1803-1914 CE 6 .45 gm. $4 E
v-- Weight of "talent" sometimes varied in different societies.
Silver Coins
$1 = 24.06 grams of silver.
Notes:name area or originator date weight value (1800s USA) valuation source Notes (See below)
drachma Athens 560-400 BCE 4 grams $0 .166 C
mina (weight) Greece 500-300 BCE 400 gm. $16 .60 C v
(100 drachmas)
talent (weight) Greece 500-300 BCE 24 kilograms $1000 E v
(60 minas)
shekel (weight) Israel ? BCE-67 CE 13 .9 gm. $0 .578 C v
denarius Rome 200 BCE- 54 CE 3 .8 gm. $0 .158 C
dirham Arabs 698-1150 CE 3 grams $0 .125 C
denier Charlemagne 751-1250 CE 1 .3 gm. $0 .054 C
derivatives: denaro [Italy], dinheiro [Portugal], pfennig [Germany]
penny England 1066-1250 CE 1 .5 gm. $0 .062 C
approx. one "pennyweight," ie 1/240 of a troy pound
groschen Germany 1260-1500 CE 3 .9 gm. $0 .162 C
originally "gros tournois" [France]
other names: grossus [Latin], grosz [Polish], groat [English]
testone Milan (Italy) 1472-1476 CE 9 .8 gm. $0 .407 C
derivatives: tostao [Portuguese], testoon or "shilling" [England]
thaler Germany 1450-1600 CE 25-30 gm. $1 E
other names: dollar [English], daalder[Netherlands], Joachimsthaler
originally named for "Joachimstal" (Joachim's valley), a large silver mine
peso Spanish Empire 1500-1900 CE 27 gm. $1 E
other names: piastra [Italy], piece of eight (reales), Spanish dollar
écu France 1726-1791 CE 29 .5 gm. $1 .15 C
equivalent: crown [England]
rupee India 1539-1939 CE 11 .7 grams $0 .486 C
thaler Maria Theresa 1780 CE - ? 24 .2 grams $1 E
tael (weight) China 1800-1900 CE 36 .7 grams $1 .53 C
v-- Weights and relationship of "mina" and "talent" sometimes varied in different societies.
Some historical non-bullion coins
name material area date value
obol silver Greece 500 BCE- 300 BCE 1/6 drachma
aes (as) bronze Rome 145 BCE- 200 CE 1/16 denarius
cash copper, brass, etc. China 618 CE- 1900 CE 1/1000 tael
maravedi copper Spain 1479-1843 CE 1/34 real
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