Introduction

In Mesopotamia, uncoined silver was the main means of exchange and unit of account – thus money. Ideally the shekel was a monthly wage for which one could buy 1 kurru (300, later 180 litres) of grain or dates. In practice prices fluctuated considerably. In Persia, 1 golden daric (dareikos) (8.33 gr.) = 20 silver sigloi (5.4, later 5.6 gr.). In Egypt, since the New Kingdom the deben was a measure of weight of around 91 grams that was used for gold, silver and copper. It was divided into 10 kite. During the reign of Augustus a denarius weighed 3.80 grams and contained 3.65 grams of silver; by the time of the reign of Decius (25) the coin weighed 3.10 grams and contained only 1 gram of silver – a mark of debasement of the coinage..