I have always wondered why Moroni devoted so much space in the Book of Mormon to tell us about the Nephites money system; I haven't figured it out yet, but I did notice some interesting tidbits.
First off, Their currency was backed by grain (see verse 7, 15), it wasn't a fiat system
Second, "they did not reckon after the manner of the jews...neither did they measure after the manner of the jews." Mosiah actually established their money system when he instituted the reign of the judges, - Side note: Mosiah also set specifics as to what a judge was paid for his labor (verse 1) which seems to provide a form of check on the judges -and prevoius to this time "they altered their reckoning and measure, according to the minds and circumstances of the people, in every generation, until the reign of the judges." (verse 4) Why would he fix the currency? (This question is directed at those of you who know more about economics than.)
And finally, "[their] reckoning is thus:"
A Senine of gold = 1 Measure of Grain
A Seon of gold = 2 MoG
A Shum of gold = 4 MoG
A Limnah of gold = 7 MoG
A Senum of Silver = 1 MoG
An Amnor of silver = 2 MoG
An Ezrom of silver = 4 MoG
An Onti of silver = 7 MoG
A Shiblon = 1/2 MoG
A Shiblum = 1/4 MoG
A Leah = 1/8 MoG
An Antion = 3 Shiblons, or 1 1/2 MoG
Another interesting tidbit, Zeezrom offered Amulek 6 Ontis to deny Christ. 6 Ontis = 42 MoG.
Very cool, very odd. Any other ideas, specifically, why 1, 2, 4, 7? Why in the world is there an Antion? And do you think the reason it was included has anything to do with the economic system we'll have/create for Zion?
Woah! I need to go back and read that chapter right now!
ReplyDeleteI've talked with Maren about how I really don't agree with the whole precious metal money system, when the precious metal isn't backed by anything! (Have you heard me go on about that?)
I think the answer to your last question is a definite "Yes!". I'm not sure why I say that though. My thoughts are still developing. . . . I'll have to go do some studying.
Thanks for this thoughts, Alyssa!
My wife has a set of weights she bought in Israel. We get it out every time our family reads this verse because it illustrates it so well.
ReplyDeleteEach one is twice the weight of the previous one. This binary system is very efficient mathematically because you can make any whole number from 1 to 2n-1, where n is the number of weights. If you have three weights, you can weigh from 1-7.
Also, the weights nest inside each other, and the outer one has a lid to keep them from falling apart. I believe her set has 6 weights, so we can demonstrate all the way from a leah to an onti.
That's really cool. Very cool, worthy of more pondering.
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