1 oz Copper Round: Copper for Food, Silver for Drugs

Anyone should be able to create a valuable resource that is tradeable for another resource. Bernard von NotHaus created a "token" with 1 AV (Avoirdupois) OZ copper. What is an Avoirdupois Ounce? 1/16th of an Avoirdupois Pound! What is a Avoirdupois pound? It's a pound.

The standard weight measurements used for all precious metal products are Troy ounces and pounds. All legal tender Silver, gold and Platinum coins are struck according to these Troy weights, which are not to be confused with the Avoirdupois weights. Avoirdupois measurements are used for coarse dry weights such as grain, flour, sugar, tea, etc., and are the units of weight you likely learned about in school. The term Avoirdupois was adapted from the French phrase “aveir de pois” or “aver de peis” – which roughly translates to “goods of weight.” Precious metals, gems and drugs use the Troy system. By the way, the Troy system is not named for the Ancient Greek City of Troy, but for Troyes, France – where they were first introduced. Troy weights are also called Apothecary weights, due to their use with medical drugs. Source: govmint.com

So when we measure gold or silver or platinum, it is weighed in "Troy Oz" (named after Troyes, France) which is a special weight unit used specifically for drugs... er apothecary. It takes 12 Troy Oz to make a "Troy Pound".

But when we measure copper, we use AV OZ, which means "aver de peis" or "goods of weight". Used to measure food! It's the modern Oz / LB's that we still use today. It takes 16 AV Oz to make an actual pound.

I wonder why copper is measured with food weight, while silver/gold/platinum are measured in drug weights? Perhaps copper was considered suitable for food trade (1 copper oz for 25 oz grain) while other metals like gold or silver were traded for more luxury items like... drugs? Let's ask chatGPT:

Not a super detailed answer, but it gives a bit of understanding why the different measurement standards are used. Copper is used for trade in bulk, while precious metals are used as currency and investment. And drugs... er apothecary.

The back of the copper trade unit has some interesting "fine print".

Notice: Not intended to be used as legal tender, current money, or coin

That pretty much clears it up. And the "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price" is $1 It's not a dollar coin. Only the US mint makes those.

Interesting that a modern (and official) US Dollar coin weighs significantly less than this 1 AV OZ token.

So the US mints an official $1 coin that weighs 0.286 AV oz. Wouldn't that suggest that the true value of this "token" by weight would be 1/0.286 = $3.496

We should call it a $3.50 coin, by US treasury standards. Plus historical and numismatic value markups. Remember 2008? So long ago!

Question for you, dear reader:

How much would you value this token in modern US dollars? What is the max dollar you would exchange for a token like this one?

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