Gold Content
brogine
Posts: 89 ✭
Was there a rationale for the weights of gold coins? They don't seem to reflect either fractions of an ounce or integral numbers of grains.
At least with US coins, the total weights of the coins in grains - except for the quarter eagle at 64.5 - are whole numbers. What's more, most of the countries use gold content absolutely unrelated numerically to the systems of the others.
At least with US coins, the total weights of the coins in grains - except for the quarter eagle at 64.5 - are whole numbers. What's more, most of the countries use gold content absolutely unrelated numerically to the systems of the others.
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As we know, the first coins ( if we accept that the first coins were from Lydia ) were not of pure gold, but instead of an alloy of gold and silver called electrum. Over time, somebody eventually figured out how to refine the silver out of the gold and make the gold pure. And once they did that, most of your gold coins of higher denominations were made of pure gold. Lower denominations were made of debased gold, but this was largely a matter of convenience. To make small denomination coins out of pure gold would result in coins being so small that they were hard to handle and easy to lose. They didn't like losing them. So to keep the size manageable they debased the gold and made the coins larger.
That's when one King decided he could screw his neighbors in treade and make his gold coins of debased gold. Well that didn't last very long, the neighbors weren't as stupid as the King thought. They soon figured out how to assay gold without actually assaying it - they used touch stones. In skilled hands a touch stone could determine the fineness fo gold to within 1%. After that, well nobody could fool anybody. And that was the birth of the banks and the bankers - only they called them money changers.
Then the Kings all around began to mint their gold coins as they saw fit. Some would be of one fineness and some of another fineness, and some would be pure. And if the king felt like it, he reduced the fineness at his leisure. Just depended on how much money he needed in the Royal Treasury at the time. But his neighbors all knew this as he knew it about them when they did it - thanks to touch stones. And that was the birth of exchange rates.
So when a ship pulled into to port with goods to sell or buy, everybody went to the money changers. So and so's coins were worth XX, and so and so's were worth XXX. They traded the coins all based on the weight and fineness of the gold and everybody was happy. But that weight was all based on grains.
And of course if a given country wanted to take over the trade in the a given area, all they had to do was produce the best coins. The coins with the purest gold and of the most consistent weight - every single time. So soon every other country in the neighborhood wanted to accept only those coins in payment for goods or services. And that was when Venice took over the trade routes - they had the best coins, the Venetian ducat - .986 gold and 3.5 grams every time.
Now that get's us up to about 1284 - after that the rest is history as they say. We still have the same basic weight of grains for measuring gold. A bit later they developed the larger units of measurement we are more familiar with - the Troy ounce. But it's still based on those same grains they started with. Nothing much has really changed since the beginning.
I'll have to google or wiki the weight in grains part...I worked with an old guy who would order some medication in grains and the nurse would go on forever about what a pain that was. Hmm, and the touchstones too, that sounds intruiging too.
Thank you for the great post!
Cathy
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