> >Circa 1610, supporting the Lunar army of occupation in Dragon
Pass
> >cost about 20,000 lunars (or 1 daran) a year in hard currency
(which
> >is a lot of cows). ... There probably are hundreds of pounds of
> >silver - not tons - going back and forth through Dragon Pass.
>
> A Roman denarius weighed about 4 grammes (of silver, fluctuating
over
> the history of the Empire). If a Lunar is comparable, that's only
80
> kg of coinage. I imagine many of the readers of this list weigh
more.
For what it is worth, a cow costs 20 Lunars. In the Empire (at least until the currency devaluations of the late 2nd and 3rd centuries) it appears a cow cost between 100 and 200 denarius. Assuming (and this is a big assumption) that the value of silver is the same in the classical Mediterranean as it is in central Genertela, I would guess that a Lunar weighs between 20 and 40 grammes of silver. Maybe more, maybe less. But we know 20 Lunars will buy you a cow.
Jeff
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