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The Origin of Metallic Currency and Weight Standards — William Ridgeway

The Origin of Metallic Currency and Weight Standards

William Ridgeway

  • History
  • Book language: English
  • 425 pages

The Origin of Metallic Currency and Weight Standards is a historical study by William Ridgeway, first published in 1892. Using a comparative method, it examines how early societies developed money and systems of weight, drawing on examples beyond the usual ancient Mediterranean focus. It offers a thoughtful introduction to economic history and ancient metrology.

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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).

Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.

Opening of the book

THE ORIGIN OF
METALLIC CURRENCY AND
WEIGHT STANDARDS.
Drawing of a man and a large pair of weighing scales
London: C. J. CLAY ĵƿŠ SONS,
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE,
A΄ŧ MĵǡƗĵ Lĵƿŧ.
Logo of Cambridge University
Press
Cambridge: DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO.
Leipzig: F. A. BROCKHAUS.
New York: MACMILLAN AND CO.
THE ORIGIN OF
METALLIC CURRENCY AND
WEIGHT STANDARDS
BY
WILLIAM RIDGEWAY, M.A.,
PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN QUEEN’S COLLEGE, CORK,
LATE FELLOW OF GONVILLE AND CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
ἌΝΘΡΩΠΟϹ Ἢ <ΒΟὟϹ Ἢ> ὟϹ ἊΝ ΕἼΗ ΜΈΤΡΟΝ ἉΠΆΝΤΩΝ.

CAMBRIDGE:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1892
[All Rights reserved.]
Cambridge:
PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. AND SONS,
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

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Contents

  1. THE ORIGIN OF METALLIC CURRENCY AND WEIGHT STANDARDS.
  2. PREFACE.
  3. CONTENTS.
  4. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
  5. CHAPTER I. The Ox and the Talent in Homer.
  6. CHAPTER II. Primitive Systems of Currency.
  7. CHAPTER III. THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE OX AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD.
  8. CHAPTER IV. Primaeval Trade Routes.
  9. CHAPTER V. The Art of Weighing was first employed for Gold.
  10. CHAPTER VI. The Gold Unit everywhere the value of a Cow.
  11. CHAPTER VII. The Weight Systems of China and Further Asia.
  12. CHAPTER VIII. How were Primitive Weight Units fixed?
  13. CHAPTER IX. Statement and Criticism of the Old Doctrines.
  14. PART II.
  15. CHAPTER X. The Systems of Egypt, Babylon, and Palestine.
  16. CHAPTER XI. The Lydian and Persian Systems.
  17. CHAPTER XII. The Greek System.
  18. APPENDIX A The Homeric Trial Scene.
  19. APPENDIX B. What was the Unit of Assessment in the Constitution of Servius Tullius?
  20. APPENDIX C. Keltic and Scandinavian Weight Systems.
  21. FOOTNOTES
  22. INDEX.
  23. THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE

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