How many ounces are in a Talent of silver?

OnlyGoldIsMoney

Lately I have been listening to Kenneth Harl's lectures on the Peloponnesian War. His narrative frequently refers to "talents" of silver being used for payments, tribute, ransoms, etc. A talent is described as 6,000 silver drachm which I assume are silver coins of the Attic standard for weight and purity.

Does anyone know what a "talent of silver" would represent in modern troy ounces of 0.999 silver?

7Jaguars

Wikipedia says 26 kilos in ancient Greece and I had previously heard 58 pounds in any case. 1 kilo is just over 32 troy oz. so that should be about 832 oz. Let someone else do the exact math....

7Jaguars

PS Backcheck is that 6k denarii, multiply by about 4.25 (gm/drachma) and divide by 31.1 which is pretty close...840 or so...

OnlyGoldIsMoney

<< <i>PS Backcheck is that 6k denarii, multiply by about 4.25 (gm/drachma) and divide by 31.1 which is pretty close...840 or so... >>



Thank you for your help!

ProofArtworkonCircs

26 kilograms is 57.3 pounds (avoirdupois), or 69.7 pounds troy = 836.5 ounces troy.

I guess we are all coming out close to the same answer.