Kilopascal asked in USMA 18459: >It would be interesting to know how many grams that one pound of silver was >equal to that was the basis of the Lira. As we all know, the pound varied >so much from place to place, only a clarification in grams would give >insight as to how much the lira was intended to weigh.
The livre (mass) varied across France from 380 to 550 grams. The kilogram was found to be 2 livres 5 gros 49 grains, from which I calculated, after some dubious effort, that that livre was 489 grams. I have no idea if that livre was the mass of the monetary silver livre that was used before the Revolution and the establishment of the franc. The lira probably had a similar history before inflation, based on some Italian pound. Joseph B.Reid 17 Glebe Road West Toronto M5P 1C8 TEL. 416-486-6071
