Attic talent


The Attic talent, also known as the Athenian talent or Greek talent, is an ancient unit of mass equal to about, as well as a unit of value equal to this amount of pure silver. A talent was originally intended to be the mass of water required to fill an amphora, about. At the 2017 price of $547/kg, a silver talent is worth $14,113. It was equivalent to 60 minae, 6,000 drachmae or 36,000 oboloi.
During the Peloponnesian War, a trireme crew of 200 rowers was paid a talent for a month's worth of work, one drachma, or 4.3 grams of silver per rower per day. According to wage rates from 377 BC, a talent was the value of nine man-years of skilled work. This corresponds to 2340 work days or of silver per worker per workday. In 2004, a modern carpenter's median wage was about $25,060 per year or $226,000 for nine years of work.
In 1800, a building craftsman in urban Europe received an average wage of of silver a day, or about $0.49 a day. Adjusted for inflation, this corresponds to $6 a day in 2007 money. Assuming a European worker in 1800 to be as productive as a worker in ancient Greece, the purchasing power of a talent in ancient times was about equal to $20,000 in the early 21st century. The plausibility of this calculation is confirmed by the fact that a talent of silver was worth $1081 in 1800, equivalent to $13,000 after adjusting for inflation.