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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
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 | |||
Caution:
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 | ||
d-- The name "doubloon" was also sometimes used for smaller gold coins, worth about $2.
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-- Weight of "shekel" sometimes varied in different societies.
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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