The Lot (formerly also written ''Loth'') was a unit of measurement of

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

, which was mainly used in German-speaking states of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

and in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

. It was replaced in the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...

in 1868/69/72, in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in 1871/76 and in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in 1875/77 by the

metric Metric or metrical may refer to: Measuring * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics ...

unit of measurement, the

gramme The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined in 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to the cube o ...

. But in the early 20th century it was still used as a popular unit of measure in cooking and baking recipes. An imprecise but clear rule of thumb is that a ''lot'' corresponds to a "spoonful".

Old ''Lot''

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the following weight system was traditionally used: (trading) ''

Pfund Pfund is German for " pound weight" and is also a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * August Herman Pfund (1879–1949), American physicist and spectroscopist * Guillermo Pfund (born 1989), Argentine footballer * Jessica Pfund (born ...

'' = 1 ''Lot'' = 4 ''Quents'' = 16 ''Pfennig'' weights = 32 ''Heller'' weights The ''Lot'' had different weights in the various German states depending on the definition of the ''Pfund'' ("pound"); its definition also varied over time. However it was mostly set at between 14 g and 18 g. Some examples: * 14.606 g before May 1856 in

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the 8th-largest state in Germany by area an ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, Homburg,

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Lippe-Detmold Lippe (later Lippe-Detmold and then again Lippe) was a state in Germany, ruled by the House of Lippe. It was located between the Weser river and the southeast part of the Teutoburg Forest. It originated as a state during the Holy Roman Empire, an ...

Schaumburg-Lippe Schaumburg-Lippe, also called Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807 and a free state in 1918, and was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present-day state of Lower Saxony, with its capi ...

Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy in Northern Germany consisting of the eastern fifth of the historic Mecklenburg region, roughly corresponding with the present-day Mecklenburg-Strelitz district (the former Lordship of Stargard) ...

, Nassau,

Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) * Reuss (river) in Switzerland * Imperial County of Reuss or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the People's State of Reuss * Principality of Reuss-Greiz and Principality of R ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Altenburg () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia. It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilometers and a population of 207,000 (190 ...

Saxe-Coburg Saxe-Coburg () was a duchy held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in today's Bavaria, Germany. History Ernestine Line When Henry IV, Count of Henneberg – Schleusingen, died in 1347, the possessions of the House of Henneberg ...

Saxe-Gotha Saxe-Gotha () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin, Wettin dynasty in the former Landgraviate of Thuringia. The ducal residence was erected at Gotha (town), Gotha. History The duch ...

Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar () was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant branch of the House of W ...

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt. History Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of House of Schwarzburg, Schwarzburg dy ...

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with its capital at Sondershausen. History Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a county (earldom) until 1697. In that year, it became a principal ...

, Waldeck and

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

* 15.1 g in

Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin () was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Adolphus Frederick II divided ...

* 15.2 g in

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

* 15.6 g in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

and the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...

* 15 = 15.625g in

* 15.9 g in

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen ( ; ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine line of the House of Wettin, located in the southwest of the present-day Germany, German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ern ...

* 17.5 g in

* 17.6 g in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

New ''Lot'', ''Zoll-Lot, Postlot''

On 27 May 1856, an act concerning "a common state weight" system was issued in

for the

German Customs Union The (), or German Customs Union, was a coalition of German states formed to manage tariffs and economic policies within their territories. Organized by the 1833 treaties, it formally started on 1 January 1834. However, its foundations had b ...

(''Deutscher Zollverein''). This redefined the weights as follow: * 1 ''Pfund'' = 0.5 kg * ''Last'' = ''Center'' = ''Pfund'' = 1 ''Lot'' = 10 ''Quents'' = 100 ''Cents'' = 1,000 ''Grains'' 1 ''Lot'' corresponded to 16.666 g and at the same time to a ''

Vereinstaler The Vereinsthaler (, ''union thaler'') was a standard silver coin used in most List of historic states of Germany, German states and the Austrian Empire in the years before German Empire, German unification. The Vereinsthaler was introduced in 1857 ...

fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Fran Fine, the title character of ''The Nanny'' * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (p ...

. It was thus also used as a unit of silver

fineness The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hard ...

within the monetary system. See

Lot (fineness) A ''Lot'' (formerly ''Loth'') was an old unit of measurement for the relative fineness_ (1896), ''The Journal of Political Economy'', Vol. 4, p. 190. to gross weight in metallurgy and especially in coinage until the 19th century. A ''Lot'' was ...

. In comparison tables of old and new units of measurement of the same name in Prussia, the pre-1856 ''Lot'' (and also other units of measurement) was often used with the prefix "old" and the new ''Lot'', valid from 27 May 1856, with the prefix "''Neu''" ("new") or "''Zoll''" ("customs"). The

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

also used the term ''Postlot'' from 1858.Leopold Herzka: ''Der Bauratgeber. Handbuch für das gesamte Baugewerbe und seine Grenzgebiete.'' Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-70919-993-0, p. 4.''Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon''. Vol. 16, Leipzig 1908, p. 221. Apart from Prussia, this classification of weights also applied in

and the

Thuringian states The Thuringian states () refers to the following German federal states within the German Reich: *The Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, officially the Grand Duchy of Saxony (''Großherzogtum Sachsen'') from 1903 *The duchies of Saxe-Altenbur ...

.''Allgemeine deutsche Real-Encyklopädie für die gebildeten Stände. Conversations-Lexikon.'' 11th, revised, improved and expanded edn. Vol. 9: ''Konradin bis Mauer.'' Brockhaus, Leipzig 1866, pp. 567 f., keyword ''Loth;'' ebd., Vol 11: ''Occupation bis Prämie.'' Brockhaus, Leipzig 1867, p. 634, keyword ''Pfund''. In north-western Germany, on the other hand, the unit system was adapted more closely to the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...

at the same time. In Brunswick,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places * Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony * Ol ...

and

the lot was defined as a tenth of a ''

Zollpfund The ''Zollpfund'' ("customs pound") is an historical German weight based on the old pound. In 1854, the German Customs Union, the ''Zollverein'', fixed the pound weight at exactly 500 grammes, making it about seven percent heavier than the old un ...

'' = 50g. In the other states, the pound remained divided into 32 lots. In

and

there was for a time a "metric ''Lot''" of 10 g (repealed by law in 1888). In Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland, this metric ''Lot'' lives on as the decagramme to this day.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* :sk:Libra (hmotnosť) an extensive (20+) list of values (in grams) a pound had at various times and places in Europe * :bg:Фунт (единица) a historical value of lot in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Obsolete units of measurement Units of mass

Old ''Lot''

New ''Lot'', ''Zoll-Lot, Postlot''

See also

References

External links