How much is one hundred ounces of gold worth in ancient times? Much less than I thought

In costume TV dramas, the emperor would often reward one hundred taels of gold. How much gold is this one hundred taels of gold?

If you think it is the current 10 kilograms, you are totally wrong!

Let’s look at it from a measurement perspective, how much is one hundred ounces of gold worth in ancient and modern times?

In ancient times, 1 jin = 16 liang, and different dynasties had different standards for the weight unit "liang".

✔The lightest gold in the Han Dynasty was only 15.4g in 1 liang, and 100 liang of gold was equivalent to about 616,000 yuan today;

✔The heaviest gold in the Tang Dynasty, 1 liang weighed 42 grams, and 100 liang of gold was equivalent to about 1.68 million yuan today;

At that time, these standards were only used domestically. After the founding of New China, our country stipulated that: 1 jin = 500g = 10 taels, so now 100 taels of gold are worth 2 million yuan, and 10,000 taels of gold are as high as 200 million yuan.

Because our company is in line with international standards, we have no fear of traveling around the world with this conversion.

The above conversion assumes that the gold is pure gold, but in ancient times gold was not pure enough and the purity had to be measured by oneself.

At that time, people tested the purity of gold by weighing it in water, but they could only estimate how pure it was (equivalent to an accuracy of 10%).

Now, the purity of gold can be accurate to several decimal places, and gold of different purities has its own unique name.

In ancient times, a balance scale (a small beam scale) was used to measure the purity or weigh gold. The accuracy of the balance scale could be less than 1g, which was a major innovation in ancient measurement.

Today, various advanced balances and electronic scales are everywhere, with grams as the unit, and can be accurate to several decimal places. Buying gold is not afraid of losing money, but it is also difficult to get a bargain.

Moreover, these measuring tools are supported by metrological calibration work. Under the professional and strict metrological calibration of third-party institutions, the accuracy of equipment measurement is guaranteed, and commodity trade including gold can be conducted fairly, which is of great significance to the smooth operation of the national economy and the harmonious development of society.