14-01-2023, 03:58 PM
I was thinking about this the other day when I read it.
Is it possible that the ducats mentioned were the ones in circulation at the time the letter was written, in which case it could have been a much more modest amount?
As an example, if I were to write today to a third party in the another country about an amount paid for a book 50 years earlier, I would probably write it in euros, the modern day amount, rather than pesetas. Or modern sterling rather than guineas if sending to the UK. After all, would Marci expect an Italian scholar to know the value of an amount 70 years earlier in another country?
How much was 600 ducats at the time and place the letter was written / delivered?
Is it possible that the ducats mentioned were the ones in circulation at the time the letter was written, in which case it could have been a much more modest amount?
As an example, if I were to write today to a third party in the another country about an amount paid for a book 50 years earlier, I would probably write it in euros, the modern day amount, rather than pesetas. Or modern sterling rather than guineas if sending to the UK. After all, would Marci expect an Italian scholar to know the value of an amount 70 years earlier in another country?
How much was 600 ducats at the time and place the letter was written / delivered?