The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Talent

TALENT, the name of a weight and denomination of money among the ancient Greeks, and also applied by Greek writers to various standard weights and denominations of money of different nations; the weight and value differing in the various nations and at various times. The Attic talent as a weight contained 60 Attic minæ or 6,000 Attic drachmæ, equal to 56 pounds, 11 ounces, British troy weight. As a denomination of silver money it was equal to $1,220. The great talent of the Romans is computed to be equal to $500, and the little talent to $375. A Hebrew weight and denomination of money, equivalent to 3,000 shekels, also receives this name. As a weight it was equal to about 93¾ pounds avoirdupois; as a denomination of silver it has been variously estimated at from $1,500 to $1,880.