Talentum
(
τάλαντον; literally “a balance,” and
“the thing weighed”). The Greek term for
1.
the heaviest unit of weight;
2.
the designation of a sum of money consisting of a number of coins originally equal to it in
legal weight and value. It was divided into 60
minae or 6000
drachmae. Among the different talents in use in Greece the most widely
spread was the Attic, of which 1/6000 part (
drachma) weighed 57 1/2
lbs. The intrinsic value of the metal contained in this sum of money was about $1180. The
Aeginetan talent was worth about $1515. See
Mensura;
Numismatics.