Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kevin McGonigal, post: 3567398, member: 72790&quot;]Very interesting question posed by the OP. There are several ways of looking at this question. I think one way to do this is my asking what percentage of an average worker&#039;s daily wage did that coin represent. For example, circa 1850&#039;s a US Twenty Dollar Double Eagle of about one ounce of gold was worth about 15 to 20 days wages back East for a semi skilled worker. A coin of considerable value.</p><p><br /></p><p>But I would go back earlier to ancient times when both gold and silver were, relative to labor, worth more than in the US in the 19th century. These two gold coins, one a First century BC Greek stater of Mithradates had a little more than 8 grams of pure gold. It was worth some 28-30 drachmas of silver and at that time a drachma of silver was a days wage for a mercenary soldier or a skilled worker. The other gold coin is a mid First Century AD Roman, almost all gold, aureus of Emperor Nero, a bit more than 7 grams of gold or 25 silver denarii, or about three weeks wages for a skilled worker.</p><p><br /></p><p>Looking at coins this way, although the two ancient gold coins are each&nbsp; lighter in weigh and smaller in size than a US Double Eagle, they each have&nbsp; a higher value in terms of the labor or goods they could buy. Size alone, without taking into account other factors, makes it very problematic to determine how valuable a coin was. but the OP posed a good question because it makes us see the value of a coin in its context of time and place.[ATTACH=full]949277[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]949278[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in