Nephite coinage: 7s, 2s, exchange rates

[Dr Moore]

Oh, that is fun, Dr. Steuss.

It occurs to me, the gold Antion at 1.5 silver Senums (calculated from Alma 11:19) serves practical no purpose.

Alma 11:7 already establishes equivalence between the gold Senine and silver Senum at 1 grain equivalent each. What, then, is the purpose of mentioning the Antion, or even having an Antion at 1.5 Senums when people could already trade between silver and gold coinage at 1 Senine for 1 Senum?

It's like Colonials minting a penny, half penny and a double penny, all with brass and silver versions, but then also minting a 1.5 penny. The new coin, Antion, adds nothing in terms of new combinatorial value. Bizarre.

Also, Alma 11:19 introduces the Antion at the very end of our coinage rundown. It accomplishes nothing except to define an odd 1.5x coin exchange between gold and silver, and is by definition a redundant combinable gold coin as well. But why? It's never discussed later in the book. Why mention it at all? Both the gold Senine and silver Senum already have double coins and half coins defined. The 1.5 coin seems an afterthought.

So I wonder, in context of this Grecian coin chart as "muse" for the system, would the Antion represent Joseph looking at his rock in his hat, and remembering red-cheeked, "oh yeah, I was about to say" and then providing that ancient-ish 1.5x cross-metal exchange figure? It's definitely odd.

[Symmachus]

Antion...hmm.

"Total coincidence," explained Professor Anthon.

[Shulem]

I find it curious that references to Nephite coinage in other places in the Book of Mormon refer to the senine as if it was worth little when it was designated in Alma 11 as one of the greater values. We learn it amounted to the daily pay for a judge. A judge is at the top of the food chain and probably makes more money than 99% of the population.

Look:

And notwithstanding the many labors which I have performed in the church, I have never received so much as even one senine for my labor; neither has any of my brethren, save it were in the judgment-seat; and then we have received only according to law for our time.

It's as though judge Alma said he never got a dime or a blessed penny for working for the church. So why does he revert to the senine (daily wage of a judge) when he could have used one of the lessor values such as the gold antion or a measly silver shiblum or the leah which was the lowest value of all? It seems odd that the senine is used in Alma 30:33 when a lesser value coin could have been named. Nonetheless, Alma refers to the daily wage of a judge as if it was chicken food for a priest. It just seems a little odd to me.

Then, later, blow-hard Mormon Jesus comes down and acts like the senine is the smallest coin around:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence until thou hast paid the uttermost senine. And while ye are in prison can ye pay even one senine? Verily, verily, I say unto you, Nay.

Why the senine? Again, why not refer to one of the lessor coins? It makes no sense that Mormon Jesus Joseph Smith mumbled "senine" out of his hat in these instances. He's acting as if a senine is worth very little when according to his reckoning in Alma it's worth quite a bit -- a days pay for a judge! In contrast, Jesus in the Bible used the farthing which is only worth two mites.

[MG 2.0]

It makes sense that Smith stole information for his Nephite mint. He stole everything from everyone.

Crazy.

Just for fun, here is the WEDJAT-EYE theory for Nephite weights and measures.

https://www.einarerickson.com/book-of-m ... and-barley

This theory is based upon Book of Mormon historicity point of view. It may not travel very far here, but I thought it might at least be of some interest.

Regards,
MG

[Doctor Steuss]

It makes sense that Smith stole information for his Nephite mint. He stole everything from everyone.

Crazy.

Just for fun, here is the WEDJAT-EYE theory for Nephite weights and measures.

https://www.einarerickson.com/book-of-m ... and-barley

This theory is based upon Book of Mormon historicity point of view. It may not travel very far here, but I thought it might at least be of some interest.

Regards,
MG

Looks like since Gardiner (1957), a rascally fellow came along and showed that it doesn't actually represent fractions of a hekat. (Link to downloadable PDF: Research Gate.)

Interesting and fun theory, that might've held minimal water 20 years ago. Doesn't really try to address the ezrom : onti ratio at all, and overall seems to reiterate the ultimate reliance on 2's (which was noted upthread).

[Shulem]

Just for fun, here is the WEDJAT-EYE theory for Nephite weights and measures.

I'm more interested in the king's name written in the label of Facsimile No. 3. What is it? Tell me the name and then I will believe anything you say about the WEDJAT-EYE. I might even attend a church meeting -- maybe. The Backyard Professor will probably want to attend church too once he finds out the Facsimile No. 3 is really true. Radio Free Mormon will go back to church as well if you can prove Joe knew what he was talking about.

That's my two senines. So pay up or shut up.

[Rick Grunder]

I wonder if Joseph Smith really thought in terms of seven when dictating Alma 11. I say this because I think apologists sometimes seek more elegance than was originally conceived in latter-day scripture (rather like in English literature courses where we analyzed certain writings to death).

Without wishing to make any thread jack from the present interesting discussion, I did have a rather simpler impression of Smith’s Nephite exchange system when I wrote the following entry.

For whatever it may be worth here:

http://www.rickgrunder.com/parallels/mp117.pdf

[Moksha]

I'm more interested in the king's name written in the label of Facsimile No. 3. What is it?

Would Muhlestein and Gee be able to drum up future supporters of their theories if they had the Interpreter Foundation print up Facsimile coloring books to be handed out to incoming BYU Freshmen and to students in the Near East Languages Department?

[Moksha]

I'm more interested in the king's name written in the label of Facsimile No. 3. What is it?

Would Muhlestein and Gee be able to drum up future supporters of their theories if they had the Interpreter Foundation print up Facsimile coloring books to be handed out to incoming BYU Freshmen and to students in the Near East Languages Department?

That half-semester practicum on living as an ancient Nephite could get pretty dicey when participating in River Sidon Soaking at the Seven Peaks water park wave pool. The Facsimiles coloring book would be a wholesome alternative.

[Physics Guy]

The astute reader will recognize this system as the binary system of halving used in computer science today. Until this understanding arrived of the binary system progress in computer science was slow.

Computer science was tough before the two-times table, all right. Kids these days have no concept. I’d like to see them whippersnappers do nested loops on their fingers like we did, when we weren’t even sure how many fingers we had because numbers over three weren’t yet implemented.