How Much Did Avraham Avinu Pay for the Mearas Hamachpeila?
Four hundred shekelim… how much silver was that?
The Gemara tells us that the shekelim Avraham Avinu gave to Efron were kantarin. Using the two weight interpretations outlined below, what would that silver be worth at $51.83 per troy ounce?
Before we do the math…
Silver is priced by the troy ounce. The original calculation used ordinary ounces (approximately 35.273 per kilogram). Here we use:
1 kg ≈ 32.1507466 troy oz
Midos Veshiurei Torah
Using the weight attributed to Midos Veshiurei Torah in the original calculation: 1 kantar = 42.5 kilograms.
17,000 kg = 17,000,000 grams
17,000,000 ÷ 31.1034768
≈ 546,562.69 troy oz
Multiply the unrounded troy-ounce weight by $51.83:
Torah Temima
Using the interpretation attributed to the Torah Temima in the original calculation, a kantar represents 100 shekelim. Assuming 1 shekel = 11 grams:
1 kantar = 1.1 kg
1.1 kg × 400 = 440 kg
440,000 ÷ 31.1034768
≈ 14,146.33 troy oz
Multiply the unrounded troy-ounce weight by $51.83:
A remarkable amount of silver.
Calculation notes: These estimates retain the source attributions and weight assumptions of the original discussion. The silver price used is $51.83 per troy ounce. Full precision was retained until the final dollar amounts were rounded to the nearest cent. Displayed troy-ounce quantities are rounded.
