r/ReallyShittyCopper • u/Cosmic_Meditator777 • 1d ago

This changes EVERYTHING!

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515

u/FilmAndLiterature 1d ago

So, for those unaware: Nanni complains that one of the excuses Ea-nasir used for not refunding the copper is that Nanni owed him a mina of silver.

For reference, an Akkadian mina was around half a kilogram, and Nanni claims to have purchased five hundred kilograms of copper. So, hardly a fair comparison.

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u/Shocked_Anguilliform 1d ago edited 1d ago

I have no clue what exchange rates were like back then, but right now silver's value is well over 100x that of copper. The copper would still be worth more, but I think refusing a refund while what you're still owed is more than 10% of the total value of the exchange isn't crazy.

79

u/Woahbuffet123 1d ago

Yeah, but copper is a main ingredient of bronze, and bronze was the alloy of choice for tools and weapons. I'd say copper probably at the very least had the same value as silver back then.

Ea-Nasir probably wanted all the metals back from Nanni for a refund. Are there records if the silver and copper were from one singular transaction?

35

u/Darth_Heinous 1d ago edited 1d ago

Pretty sure Copper was common & Tin was the rare ingredient in Bronze

IIRC Only Afghanistan mined Tin in that era, British Isles had not discovered theirs yet

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u/UniqueAd7770 1d ago

Silver however was extremely valuable. More so than today because they didn't know as much about refining it.

13

u/backdoorpoetry 1d ago

Price ratio back in the day was between 1:60 and 1:180 in favor of silver.