Decimal money system

Babylonia and Ancient Egypt

Two ancient civilizations, the Egyptian , where the decimal number system prevailed, and especially the Sumerian one based on the sixtieth decimal system, had a direct impact on the monetary systems of Antiquity . It was from Mesopotamia that the key ratios of weight and monetary units were borrowed by Jews , Hittites , Phoenicians , Persians , Greeks ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]} . Ancient Greek talent ( ancient Greek τάλαντον - literally “weight”, “cargo”; in Akkadian - “bilt”), according to one version, initially equal to the weight of an ox, comes from Babylonia . The Jews called it "Kikkar" ( Hebrew. כִּכָּר - " circle ", "disk"). Mina ( ancient Greek μνᾶ ; Hebrew מָנֶה ), the sixtieth part of talent, comes from the Babylonian "mana" - considered ^[6] . In the III millennium BC. er Babylonian sources mention “shiklu” ( Shekel, Shekel , Hebrew. שֶׂקֶל — weight, among Jews; Siglos among the Persians) equal to one sixtieth mine ^[7] . The name of the key ancient Greek unit of measurement of drachma ( ancient Greek δραχμή ), one hundredth part of the ancient Greek mine, comes from the word “handful” and goes back to the times when metal four-sided twigs - obols ( ancient Greek ὀβολός - “ spit ”), six of which, sandwiched in a handful, constituted a drachma ^{[8] [9]} . In connection with the recognized connection of this unit with the Babylonian system of measures and weights, the version cited in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron is curious, but the version that “dram” comes from Assyrian “darag-man”, which means “sixtieth mines” ^{[ 10]} . Finally, Hera has Babylonian roots, originally ¹ ⁄ ₂₄ shekels ^{[7] [11]} .

The system of measures and weights of Ancient Egypt had a lesser effect on subsequent monetary systems, which, however, in terms of units of mass , largely corresponded to the decimal principle of counting (with a strong influence of the quaternary system ):

• 1 kikkar = 5 oype = 50 man ( min ),
• 1 oip = 4 hecate = 10 man,
• 1 hecate = 10 debienes,
• 1 deben = 10 kedets,
• 1 kedet ( whale , cate ) = 10 ger .

Of the listed as monetary units in the period of the New Kingdom directly acted debun and kedet, as well as shat ( shati ), equal to ¹ ⁄ ₁₂ deben.

Ancient Israel and Judea

A curious synthesis of the Babylonian (sixtieth) and Egyptian (decimal) method of counting is a monetary system in Ancient Judea , which is the result, on the one hand, of the long-lived Jews in Egypt , and on the other, a strong influence on the region’s economy from Babylon and directly Babylonian captivity of the Jews . If the original Babylonian talent (bilt) was 3,600 shekels, then the Jewish (kikkar) is already 3,000 shekels ^{[7] [12] [11]} .

Not so obvious is another place of the Old Testament. If, for example, in the Septuagint , translating the books of the Old Testament into the ancient Greek language of seventy interpreters, verse 12 of chapter 45 of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel is written as "... five shekels may be equal to five shekels, ten to ten, and in one mine - fifty shekels" , in the Masoretic version of the original, “Twenty shekels and twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels will be one mine for you” (both quotes are translated from the Russian Bible Society ^[13] ).

From here and from the undoubted formula “1 talent = 3000 siklyam” there are two possible ratios of talent, mine and shekel (shekel):

• 1 talent = 50 mines = 3000 siklyam (that is, 1 mine is equal to 60 siklyam ) ^{[14] [5]} ;
• 1 talent = 60 mines = 3000 siklyam (that is, 1 mine is equal to 50 siklyam ) ^{[15] [7]} .

Like the number of shekels in talent, there is no discrepancy between the ratio of shekel and Hera - if in Babylonia it was ¹ ⁄ ₂₄ , then in Judea it was already ¹ ⁄ ₂₀ (see, for example, Exod. 30: 11-16 ) ^{[3] [7 ] [11]} .

Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome

Following Egypt and Babylon, the ancient Greek monetary system had the greatest impact on subsequent monetary systems, which also included elements of a decimal money account that intertwined with the sixtieth and quaternary number systems:

• 1 talent = 60 min,
• 1 mine = 50 staters or 100 drams,
• 1 stater = 2 drachmas = 12 obols,
• 1 drachma = 6 obols .

In the monetary system of ancient Rome , duodecimal and decimal systems coexisted for a long time:

• 1 ass (originally equal to libre ) = 12 oz ,
• 1 denarius = 10 assov.

This system began to form around 289 BC (the presumptive year of the beginning of the minting of the assa and its derivatives ), finally took shape in 268 BC (the year of the beginning of the minting of denarii ) and existed until 217 BC, when the denarius was equal to 16 assam ^{[16] [17]} . However, the ratio of 1 denarius = 10 asss has been preserved for another two centuries before the reform of Octavius ​​Augustus for calculating the salaries of the legionaries ^[18] . In the course of the monetary reform of Augustus , the following chain of relationships was established in the Roman Empire , which was a mixture of quaternary and decimal systems: 1 aureus = 25 denarii = 100 sestertimi = 200 dupondy = 400 assam . As a result of the deterioration of coins and monetary reforms of Nero , Diocletian, and Constantine, the decimal money account in ancient Rome, and then in Byzantium , whose monetary system is the heir of the ancient Roman, ceased to be used. Under the influence of these two non-decimal systems, the monetary systems of the Germanic states of the Middle Ages began to form.

In the era of the Middle Ages and the New Age (until the XVIII century), the principle of £ sd prevailed in Western Europe , in which the largest denomination consists of 20 smaller ones, which in turn are divided into 12 even smaller ones. That is, the largest denomination consists of 240 smallest ones. Elements of this system are found in the coin systems of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome (see above), they were developed in the Byzantine Empire and through barbaric imitations of ancient Roman and Byzantine coins were borrowed by German states that emerged in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The final design of the £ sd system occurred in 781 under Charlemagne , when the Carolinga Coin Charter was adopted. In accordance with it, the weight of the libra (pound) was significantly increased - up to about 408 grams. The libra itself was equated to 20 solidarity (shilling) or 240 denarii (1 solid = 12 denarii). In the numismatic literature, this new weight norm is called the " Charlemagne Pound " or the " Carolingian pound " ^[19] . There were no documents indicating the exact weight of the Carolingian pound, so it was reconstructed based on the weighting of the denarii of that period, which gave an approximate result of 408 grams ^[20] .

As a system of weights and measures, the Carolingian system was not fixed - by the beginning of the 20th century, the pound had at least 20 varieties of weight standards ^[21] , but how the monetary system was subsequently borrowed by all the leading European countries with minor modifications, expressed in the appearance of additional face values, which were multiple or fractional with respect to the three main, and existed in some countries until the end of XX century. Thus, the British, and later the British monetary system borrowed from Charlemagus the Great, remained almost unchanged until 1971: the pound was divided into 20 shillings and 240 pence.

This system is called lsd , £ .sd or £ sd ^[22] - after the first letters in the name of the respective ancient Roman monetary and weight units: i ibra (libra), s olidus (solid), d enarius (denarius), which in the empire of Charlemagne and the neighboring countries became pounds (lira in Italy, livre in France), shilling ( sold in Italy, salt in France, sueldo in Spain) and denariy (pfennig in Germany, pennies in England, denier in France). So, it was the first letter in the Latin name of the coin - denarius ( d ) - that became the symbol of penny and pfennig . The shilling symbol is the Latin letter S , from which the word solidus begins; the word shilling itself is usually abbreviated sh . Finally, from the first letter in the word libra , the symbols of lyre and pound sterling are derived, representing the italic letter L with one or two horizontal lines ^[23] .

In Eastern Europe and the Balkans, monetary systems had a different organization.

• Czech Republic and Poland
• Ottoman Empire
• Ancient Russia ( Russian state , Lithuanian Russia )

Chronologically, the first European state where the decimal principle of the money account was introduced is Russia . During the monetary reform of Peter I (1698-1704) , a silver ruble of 100 kopecks was established in money circulation (both the ruble and the kopek existed before, but the ruble only as a countable monetary unit , and the kopek was of secondary denomination , since the money account was primarily in dengue and altinakh , respectively 1/2 and 3 kopecks). However, in Europe this event has remained almost unnoticed, and they have minted coins for almost a century, subordinated primarily to the principle of £ sd , when the largest monetary unit is equal to twenty twenty smaller ones, which in turn are divided into 12 smaller ones (for example, livr = 20 sous = 240 denier ). An example to follow was not Russia, but France and the United States .

In the United States in 1792, a dollar was introduced consisting of 10 daimyas , 100 cents or 1000 milles (the latter were never issued as banknotes , but were used as a counting monetary unit ). In France, in 1795, first as a parallel to the livre , and since 1803, the franc appeared in the main monetary unit, as well as its tenth of desim and the hundredth - centime . (It should be noted that a little earlier than France, in 1794, the decimal currency appeared in the Geneva Republic - Genevoise and the same desim . However, already in 1795, their minting was stopped.)

Under the influence of these two monetary systems - the French and American - during the 19th century, most European countries switched to the decimal principle of the money account. The last European countries where the decimal monetary system was introduced were the UK and Ireland . Subordinate to the principle of £ sd pound sterling (20 shilling or 240 pence ) in 1971 was decimal (100 pence ).

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