A litra (: ''litrae''; ) was a small

silver coin Silver coins are one of 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 B ...

(or

unit of measurement A unit of measurement, or unit of measure, 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 qua ...

for other

precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...

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

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

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 Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...

. 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 A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...

. 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, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...

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 ...

'' coins also used pellets). In the 3rd-century

apocryphal New Testament The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cited ...

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. The complete versions that survive are Syriac and Greek. There are many surviving fragments of the text. Scholars d ...

'',

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

sells Thomas to an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

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

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

, the litra is a

, the equivalent of 60

shekel A shekel or sheqel (; , , plural , ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly 11 grams (0.35 ozt)—and became currency in ancient Tyre, Carthage and Hasmonean Judea. Name The wo ...

s, weighing .

References

External links

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