A litra (plural: litrae; grc, λίτρα) was a small

silver coin Silver coins are considered the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks; their silver drachmas were popular trade coins. The ancient Persians used silver coins between 612–330 ...

(or

unit of measurement A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude (mathematics), magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind can ...

for other

precious metals Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustre. ...

) used in the Archaic-era and early Classical colonies of Ancient Greece in general and in ancient

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in particular. As a coin, the litra was similar in value to the obol In silver content, the coin weighed and was equal to one-fifth of a

drachma The drachma ( el, δραχμή , ; pl. ''drachmae'' or ''drachmas'') was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history: # An ancient Greek currency unit issued by many Greek city states during a period of ten centuries, fro ...

. As a unit of weight, the litra was one-third of a Roman libra, i.e. . Making small change from the silver coin, one litra could be divided into 12 bronze ''onkia'' coins (also spelled ''ounkia'' and related to the later Roman ''uncia''). Some ancient Greek bronze coins were marked with value "pellets," which are tiny solid domed counting-dots somewhat like the pips on

dice Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing g ...

. Because of the division into 12 parts, a bronze coin marked with six pellets was worth half a ''litra'' (a ''hemilitron''). A coin marked with three pellets was a quarter-litra (called a ''tetras'' for a fourth-part). For those accustomed to a 10-based rather than a 12-based coin system, it can be confusing that a coin marked with three units is a "quarter," but this is because three ''onkia'' is one fourth of a 12-''onkia'' ''litra''. A bronze coin worth one-sixth of a ''litra'', called a ''hexans'', often bore two value-pellets. Worth two ''onkia'', the ''hexans'' was also called a ''dionkion'' (a two ''onkia'' unit). A five-onkia coin also appeared at times, called by

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...

s a ''quincunx''. (Not all ancient bronze coins with pellets/pips were such divisions of a ''litra''; the Roman ''

aes grave ''Aes grave'' (heavy bronze) is a term in numismatics indicating bronze cast coins used in central Italy during the 3rd century BC, whose value was generally indicated by signs: I for the as, S for semis and pellets for unciae. Standard weights fo ...

'' coins also used pellets.) In the 3rd-century apocryphal New Testament text known as the ''

Acts of Thomas ''Acts of Thomas'' is an early 3rd-century text, one of the New Testament apocrypha within the Acts of the Apostles subgenre. References to the work by Epiphanius of Salamis show that it was in circulation in the 4th century. The complete ver ...

'',

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

sells Thomas to an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

merchant "for three litrae of silver unstamped". In the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

, the litra is a

, the equivalent of 60

shekels Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...

, weighing .

References

External links

Coins of ancient Greece Coins of ancient Rome Latin words and phrases Numismatics {{Coin-stub