Re the magical system of 7s and 3s, etc, I may have posted this before, but if not here it is. The same coinage ratios appear in one of Charles Anthon's reference guides.Symmachus wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 9:57 pmHugh Nibley wrote:... They had a system which ran in sevens instead of fives and tens; or sixes and twelves, as the English [system] does; or the decimal system as we use it. It ran in sevens, and Richard Smith pointed out it was the best possible system that could be devised. It used the least coins for any necessary transaction. If you want to figure out a system that will use a minimum amount of coins and save you a lot of trouble, this is the system. It’s an almost perfect system, which Joseph Smith devised for his Nephites here [laughter]
I submit Exhibit A: A Classical Dictionary containing a Copious Account of all the Proper Names Mentioned in Ancient Authors with The Value of Coins, Weights, and Measures, Used Among the Greeks and Romans; and a Chronological Table, by J. Lempriere, 5th Ed, Corrected and Improved by CHARLES ANTHON, Adjunct Professor of Languages and Ancient Geography in Columbia College, New York, 1825.
1) Largest coins and the magic of 7:
* (gold, Nephite) 1 Limna = 7 Senine (Alma 11)
* (silver, Nephite) 1 Onti = 7 Senum (Alma 11)
* (brass, Grecian) 1 Lepton = 7 Chalcus (Anthon 1825, 4th page from the end, per image above)
2) Coinage exchange:
* 1.5 silver Senums = 1 gold Antion (1 gold Antion = 3 silver Shibloms or 1.5 silver Senums, Alma 11:14-19)
* 1.5 silver Drachma = 1 brass Tetrobolus (same source, see footnote, drachma and didrachma were silver, others of brass, per image above)
3) Multiples of 2 for intermediate coinage
* Nephite: (gold) 1 Seon = 2 Senine, 1 Shum = 2 Seon, 1 Shiblon = 2 Shiblum, 1 Shiblum = 2 Leah
* Nephite: (silver) 1 Amnor = 2 Senum, 1 Ezrom = 2 Amnor
* Grecian: (per Lempriere) (brass) 1 Chalcus = 2 Dichalcus, 1 Dichalcus = 2 Hemiobolus, 1 Hemiobolus = 2 Obolus, 1 Obolus = 2 1 Diobolus, Diobolus = 2 Tetrobolus, (silver) 1 Drachma = 2 Didrachmon, 1 Didrachmon = 2 Tetradrachmon
Right so Nibley never read Anthon?
(edited to add correspondence #3 above)