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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;EWC3, post: 3002510, member: 93416&quot;]I just now joined cointalk because I came across this old thread by chance on the web, and I felt GDJMSP was making interesting suggestions on important matters that most times get neglected – that is to say – why did old weight standards vary state to state. Ego and greed are both in play I feel, or at least – state identity and state financial interest – and it would be nice to analyse these matters further.</p><p><br /></p><p>However rather than jump in the deep end, lets try unpick some of the standards GDJMSP lodged:</p><p><br /></p><p>ie</p><p><br /></p><p>Cologne = 2 marc = 467.620 grams </p><p>French = 2 marc = 489.506 </p><p>Aachen = 32 loth = 467.040 </p><p>Amsterdam troy = 2 mark = 492.168 </p><p>Antwerp = 2 mark = 468.800 </p><p>Hamburg = 512 pennyweight = 484.690 </p><p>Lisbon = 2 marcas = 459.100 </p><p>Lucerne = medical pound = 357.950 </p><p>Munich = 560.000 </p><p>Naples = 12 ounces = 320.759 </p><p>Stockholm = 425.34</p><p><br /></p><p>Traditionally many of these are claimed to be linked – as follows (modern exact standard of course drift a little from medieval intentions)</p><p><br /></p><p>Cologne = Aachen = Antwerp = 16 oz London tower/sterling</p><p><br /></p><p>Also 16 oz London tower/sterling = 15/16 x Troy, where Troy = the Arabic Ratl Kabir</p><p><br /></p><p>French = 18 Roman ounces, where 16 Roman ounces = Attic mina = 7/8 Troy</p><p><br /></p><p>Amsterdam = 20/19 Cologne</p><p><br /></p><p>Lisbon seems to be fixed at 100 x the Muwahhid dinar Early modern sources try make it a low version of Cologne, or alternatively, a high version of 16 oz Florence (454g = British imperial = US customary = 100 Roman solidi (?)). Both possiblities seem a bit odd though</p><p><br /></p><p>Naples looks a lot like a lowish pitch for Roman commercial 12oz</p><p><br /></p><p>I am open to suggestions for Stockholm, Munich, and Hamburg.</p><p><br /></p><p>Lucerne – looks like it might be 12oz to the Venice standard – but that just a guess</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Anyhow – all these matters are somewhat controversial – this is just to try get the ball rolling – and suggest that if we go back in time, we seem to find more and more links – as if standards were diverging over time from simpler systems. Note also the dominant role of Binary fractions. Its simple arithmetic for instance to show that (theoretically ) French Troyes = 63/64 English Troy[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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