What the Text Describes
Alma 11 (dated internally to ~82 BC) lays out a monetary system with the following features:
- Named gold denominations with defined ratios: senine (base), seon (2x), shum (4x), limnah (7x, the sum of the preceding three).
- Named silver denominations parallel to gold: senum (= 1 senine), amnor (2x), ezrom (4x), onti (value of all).
- Fractional silver units halving downward: shiblon (1/2 senum), shiblum (1/4 senum), leah (1/8 senum).
- A gold-silver equivalence: 1 senine of gold = 1 senum of silver.
- Grain pegged to metal: "a senum of silver was equal to a senine of gold, and either for a measure of barley, and also for a measure of every kind of grain" (Alma 11:7).
- A judge's daily wage defined as 1 senine of gold or 1 senum of silver per day.
- A cross-denomination gold piece: the antion of gold = 3 shiblons (1.5 senum).
This is not a vague reference to "trade" or "wealth." It is a formally specified bimetallic system with named units, defined ratios (doubling upward, halving downward), a gold-silver parity, a grain peg, and a wage standard. Any candidate geography must be evaluated against the question: did a system with these structural features exist in the proposed time and place?
Scoring Criteria
Each model is scored 0-4 on how closely the real-world economic system of its proposed setting matches the Alma 11 system during the relevant period (~600 BC to 100 AD):
- 4 = Full structural match. Named denominations, weight ratios, bimetallic standard, grain-metal peg, and wage standards all attested in the proposed geography and period.
- 3 = Strong match. Most structural features present; one or two elements unattested but plausible given what is known.
- 2 = Partial match. Some monetary formalization exists but key features (e.g., bimetallic standard, grain peg, named denominations) are absent or require inference.
- 1 = Weak match. Exchange system exists but bears little structural resemblance to Alma 11. Requires extensive loan-shifting.
- 0 = No match. No monetary system, no metal use, or no formalized exchange in the relevant period.
Scores