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July 12
My dear Smyly
I am now grappling
with App. ii1 on the coins, which
will occupy me for another 10
days, I expect. I have now
come to the conclusion that the
copper drachmae dont weigh
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any thing like a drachma at all
A German2 has recently produced
some evidence for regarding the
coins of 250-280 grains as
80 drachmae pieces, and on
this view we should get no copper
coin smaller than the 5 drachmae
piece, which is what the papyri
lead you to think, and be rid
of the hopeless variance between
the papyri and coins which
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results in making the big coins
of 1400- 1600 gr a 2 chalcus
piece or 20 copper drachmae piece,
and the smaller ones 1/320 of an
obol or 1/4 of a copper drachma
I think this really solves the
main problem of the ratio
after 120 B.C. As to what it
was before that, I am not going to
theorize more than I can help.
The remainder of App. I.3 is being
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printed. I should like your
remarks on 1244 by the end of
this week, and on App. i as
soon as you conveniently can.
The revising of the proofs [on app l] will occupy
us from July 20- Aug. 7, I
expect. There is a fearful lot amount
to alter ; as you will gather from
App. i we have changed our minds
about a lot of things in 60-725.
If you could come some time between
the 20th and Aug. 7 for a day or two,
it would be best.
Can you give me one or two prices from P.P.
for grain which suit the Tebtunis prices?
1. Appendix II of P.Tebt. I.
2. Kurt Regling, Zetischrift für Numismatik 23 (1902) 115.
3. Also in P.Tebt. I, "The Land of Kerkeosiris and its Holders," pp.538ff.
5. P.Tebt. I 60-72 (= pp. 172-323).
Cite this page: Center for the Tebtunis Papyri. Document 63. History of Papyrology. https://histpap.info/letters/63/.