Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1257

 MONEY, Weights, and measures

1185

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The monetary unit is the kran, a silver coin, formerly weighing 28 nak- hods (88 grains), then reduced to 26 nakhods (77 grains), now weighing only 24 nakhods (71 grains) or somewhat less. The proportion of pure silver was before the new coinage (commenced 1877) 92 to 95 per cent. ; it was then fixed at 90, but occasionally coins with only 89^ have been turned out from the Mint. In 1874 a kran had the value of a franc, 25 being equal to 11. The value of a kran is at present (January, 1912) about i^d., a 1/. bill on London being worth 56 krans.

The coins in circulation, with their values calculated at exchange II. = 50 krans, arc : —

Copper.

PHI .... 0'12d.

Shdht = 2Pill. . . 0-24rf.

Two Shdhts = A PHI. . 0-48^.

Four Shdhis = (l Abhdssi). •96c^.

Silver. Five ShdMs=10 Pzll = l Rrdn 1 -^Od. Ten ShdMs = ^ Kran. 2"40f?. One ICrd7i = 20 Skdhts . 4'80f^. Two Krans . . . 9-60c^. Five Krans . . . 2s. 'OOd.

In consequence of an excess of coinage by a former mint-master the copper money greatly depreciated in value since 1896 and was circulating at less than its price of cojiper, viz. 80 to 83 copper shahis (weighing about I lb.) to one silver kran (4i'i.). The Government then decided to introduce a nickel coinage instead ; great quantities of five and ten centimes pieces, of same size and weight as those current in Belgium, and of the nominal value of -^j^ and xV kran, were coined at Brussels and put into circulation in the Autumn of 1900, the copper coinage being withdrawn, and of these nickel pieces nearly five million krans face value are now (January, 1911) in circulation.

Gold coins are : \ Toman, \ Toman, 1 Toman, 2, 5 and 10 Tomans, but they are not in circulation as current money, because of their ever varying value in Krans (silver) and no coins of the higher values have been struck for some years. A Toman in silver is the equivalent of 10 Krans (now worth 35. 4c^. ), but a gold Toman has a value of 22 Krans {7s. 4rf.).

Accounts are reckoned in dinars, an imaginary coin, the ten-thousandth part of a toman often krans. A kran therefore = 1,000 dinars ; one shahi = 50 dinars.

The unit of weight is the miskal (71 grains), subdivided into 24 nakhods (2*96 grains) of 4 gandum (74 grain) each. Sixteen miskals make a sir, and 5 sir make an abbassi, also called wakkeh, kervankeh. Most articles are bought and sold by a weight called batman or man. The mans most frequently in use are : —

Man-i- Tabriz = 8 Abbdssis Man-i-Noh Abbdsst = 9 Abbdssis Man-i-Kohnch (the old man). }fan-i-Shdh = 2 Tabriz Mans. Man-i'Rey = 4 ,,

Man-i-Bendcr Abbdssl Man-i-Udshcmi = lQ Mans of.

= 640 Miskals

= 6-49 lbs

= 720

= 7-30 „

= 1,000

= 10-14 ,,

= 1,280

= 12-98 ,,

= 2,560

= 25-96 ,,

= 840

= 8-52 ,,

720

= 116-80 ,,

K:harvdr = \^0 Tabriz Mans

= 649-142,,

The unit of measure is the zar or gez ; of this standard several are in use. The most common is the one of 40-95 inches ; another, used in Azerbaijan,