Tables of Spanish Colonial Weights and Measures

Tables of Spanish Colonial Weights and Measures The tables below present simplified conversions of colonial-era Spanish weights and measures both between and among each other, and into modern English and Metric systems. I have compiled these conversion tables over the course of many years of research and using a wide range of diverse sources, but the tables should only be used as a general guide, and only with the awareness that the weights and measures frequently varied in both space and time throughout the colonial era, and thus may differ from the proportions presented below. Land Area Weights (except medicines and precious metals) Kilograms Spanish Unit carga tercio quintal arroba libra marco onza ochava adarme tomin grano 138.028 carga 1 2 3 12 300 600 4,800 38,400 76,800 230,400 2,764,800 69.0139 tercio - 1 1.5 6 150 300 2,400 19,200 38,400 115,200 1,382,400 46.0093 quintal - - 1 4 100 200 1,600 12,800 25,600 76,800 921,600 111.5023 arroba - - - 1 25 50 400 3,200 6,400 19,200 230,400 0.46009 libra - - - - 1 2 16 128 256 768 9,216 0.23005 marco - - - - - 1 8 64 128 384 4,608 0.02876 onza - - - - - - 1 8 16 48 576 0.00359 ochava - - - - - - - 1 2 6 72 0.00180 adarme - - - - - - - - 1 3 36 0.00060 tomin - - - - - - - - - 1 12 0.00005 grano - - - - - - - - - - 1 Medicinal Weights Kilograms Spanish Unit libra medicinal cuarteron onza cuarta dracma (ochava) escrúpulo óbolo caractér grano 0.34506 libra medicinal 1 4 12 48 96 288 576 1,728 6912 0.08627 cuarteron - 1 3 12 24 72 144 432 1,728 0.02876 onza - - 1 4 8 24 48 144 576 0.00719 cuarta - - - 1 2 6 12 36 144 0.03594 dracma (ochava) - - - - 1 3 6 18 72 0.00120 escrúpulo - - - - - 1 2 6 24 0.00060 óbolo - - - - - - 1 3 12 0.00020 caractér - - - - - - - 1 4 0.00005 grano - - - - - - - - 1 Precious Metal Weights Metric (grams) Spanish Unit marco onza de plata dinero de ley de plata castellano de oro (before 1731) ochava de plata grano de ley de plata tomín de plata tomín de oro grano de peso de plata grano de oro 230.0465 marco de oro/plata 1 8 12 50 64 288 384 400 4,608 4,800 28.7558 onza de plata - 1 1.5 n/a 8 36 48 n/a 576 n/a 19.1705 dinero de ley de plata - - 1 n/a 5.33 24 32 n/a 384 n/a 4.6009 castellano de oro (before 1731) - - - 1 n/a n/a n/a 8 n/a 96 3.5945 ochava de plata - - - - 1 4.5 6 n/a 72 n/a 0.7987 grano de ley de plata - - - - - 1 1.33 n/a 16 n/a 0.5991 tomín de plata - - - - - - 1 n/a 12 n/a 0.5751 tomín de oro - - - - - - - 1 n/a 12 0.0499 grano de peso de plata - - - - - - - - 1 n/a 0.0479 grano de oro - - - - - - - - - 1 Currency Values in Common Spanish Colonial Usage Spanish Unit ducado peso real maravedís ducado (accounting unit only) 1 1.38 11.03 375 peso (silver coinage @27.46g per peso) - 1 8 272 real (silver coinage @3.43g per real) - - 1 34 maravedí (not in colonial circulation) - - - 1 Mid-16th-Century Gold Monetary Values in Spain and New Spain* Monetary Unit maravedís other equivalences doblón (Spain, 1550) 750 peso de oro/castellano (New Spain, 1537) 500 8 tomínes de oro castellano (Spain, 1488) 485 peso de oro de minas (New Spain) 450 1 peso, 5 tomines, 3 granos de oro de tepuzque peso de oro ensayado(New Spain) 414 dobla (Spain) 365 escudo/corona (Spain, 1537) 350 peso de oro común(New Spain) 300 peso de oro de tepuzque (New Spain, 1536) 272 tomín de oro (New Spain) 62.5 2 reales de oro real de oro (New Spain) 31.25 1/2 tomín de oro real/tomín de oro de tepuzque (New Spain, 1536) 34 12 granos de oro de tepuzque blanca (Spain) 4.8 *It should be noted that gold coinage was not minted in New Spain until 1675, and the values for New Spain presented in this table were used as theoretical equivalents to the value of gold coinage used in Spain. The stated values were instead applied to the silver coinage actually minted in New Spain after 1535 (coins of 1, 2, and 4 reales, and pesos amounting to 8 reales; see table above). All values were based on equivalent numbers of maravedís (a basic unit of measure corresponding to copper and copper-alloy coinage normally only used in Spain; see table below for relative purities of metals). During this period, the average peso of legal gold (93.7%, or 22.5 carats) was considered to be worth 450 maravedís and weighed 4.6 grams, while the average peso of legal silver (93.1%, or 11 dineros, 4 granos) was considered to be worth 272 maravedís and weighed 27.46 grams (making gold about 9.8 times more valuable than silver by weight). Metal Type Legal Alloy Equivalent Percentage oro 22.5 carats gold 93.7% gold plata 11 dineros, 4 granos silver 93.1% silver vellón (maravedís before 1602) 4 granos silver (variable) 1.4% silver (variable) cobre (maravedís after 1602) no alloy 100% copper For details on the various types of gold currency measures, see the following: Riva Palacio, Vicente 1888 México a través de los Siglos, historia general y completa del desenvolvimiento social, político, religioso, militar, artístico, científico y literario de México desde la antigüedad más remota hasta la época actual, Volume 2: El Virreinato, pp. 241-248. Barcelona: Espasa y Compania. https://archive.org/details/mexicotravsdeloss02riva Orozco y Berra, Manuel 1854 "Monedas en Mexico." Entry in Diccionario universal de historia y de geografia, obra dada a luz en España por una sociedad de literatos distinguidos y refundida y aumentada considerablemente para su publicacion en Mexico con noticias historicas, geograficas, estadisticas y biograficas sobre las Americas en general y especialmente sobre la Republica Mexicana, Volume 5, pp. 907-960. Mexico City: Imprenta de F. Escalante y C.a. https://books.google.com/books?id=btVAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP9#v=onepage&q&f=false Liquid Volume (except Olive Oil) Spanish Weight(Libras @16 oz) Spanish Volume (Pies Cúbicas) Liters Spanish Unit bota pipa moyo arroba (cántara) cuartilla azumbre cuartillo copa 1,020 lbs. 6,959.95 483.99 bota 1 1.071 1.875 30 120 240 960 3,840 952 lbs. 6492.73 451.5 pipa - 1 1.75 28 112 224 896 3,584 544 lbs. 3712 258.13 moyo - - 1 16 64 128 512 2,048 34 lbs. 1,237.333 16.133 arroba (cántara) - - - 1 4 8 32 128 8 lbs., 8 oz. 309.333 4.033 cuartilla - - - - 1 2 8 32 4 lbs., 4 oz. 154.667 2.017 azumbre - - - - - 1 4 16 1 lb., 1 oz. 38.667 0.504 cuartillo - - - - - - 1 4 4.25 oz. 9.667 0.126 copa - - - - - - - 1 Olive Oil Volume Spanish Weight(Libras @16 oz) Spanish Volume (PulgadasCúbicas) Liters Spanish Unit quintal arroba menor (cántara) cuartilla terrazgo libra panilla onza 2,656.25 lbs. 9,666.667 125.63 quintal 1 10 40 100 250 1,000 4,000 26.5625 libras (26 lbs., 9 oz.) 966.667 12.563 arroba menor (cántara) - 1 4 10 25 100 400 6.64 libras 241.667 3.141 cuartilla - - 1 2.5 6.25 25 100 2.656 libras 96.667 1.256 terrazgo - - - 1 2.5 10 40 1.0625 libras 38.667 0.504 libra (cuartillo) - - - - 1 4 16 4.25 onzas 9.667 0.126 cuarterón (panilla) - - - - - 1 4 1.0625 onzas 2.417 0.0314 onza - - - - - - 1 Large Dry Volume Spanish Volume (Pulgadas Cúbicas) Liters Spanish Unit cahíz fanega media fanega cuartilla celemín (almud) medio celemín cuartillo 51,873 666.012 cahíz 1 12 24 48 144 288 576 4,322.75 55.501 fanega - 1 2 4 12 24 48 2,161.38 27.751 media fanega - - 1 2 6 12 24 1,080.69 13.875 cuartilla - - - 1 3 6 12 360.23 4.625 celemín (almud) - - - - 1 2 4 180.11 2.313 medio celemín - - - - - 1 2 90.06 1.156 cuartillo - - - - - - 1 Small Dry Volume Spanish Volume (Pulgadas Cúbicas) Liters Spanish Unit cuartillo medio cuartillo ochavo medio ochavo ochavillo 90.06 1.156 cuartillo 1 2 4 8 16 45.03 0.578 medio quartillo - 1 2 4 8 22.51 0.289 ochavo [ochavillo] - - 1 2 4 11.26 0.145 medio ochavo - - - 1 2 5.629 0.072 ochavillo - - - - 1 Shipping Volume (16th century) Metric Volume Spanish Unit tonelada pipa codo de Malaga cubico codo de Sevilla cubico 1.518 m2 tonelada 1 2 20.125 24 0.342 m2 pipa - 1 5.625 6.35 0.0091 m2 codo de Malaga cubico - - 1 1.1289 9.1 cm2 codo de Sevilla cubico - - - 1 Shipping Volume (for palmeo system) Metric Volume Spanish Unit tonelada frangote palmo cúbico pulgada cúbica @40/vara 1.518 m2 tonelada 1 4.436 166.375 166,375 0.342 m2 frangote - 1 37.5 37,500 0.0091 m2 palmo cúbico - - 1 1,000 9.1 cm2 pulgada cúbica @40/vara - - - 1 Wine Container Volume (rough conversions) Liters Arrobas Spanish Unit pipa barril anclote frasquera botija 443.66 27.5 pipa 1 6 12 12 24 72.60 4.5 barril - 1 2 2 4 36.30 2.25 anclote - - 1 1 2 36.30 2.25 frasquera - - 1 1 2 20.17 1.25 botija - - - - 1 Large-Scale Lengths Meters Miles/Feet Spanish Unit grado legua común legua legal milla estadio cordel (cuerda) percha estadal 73,141.25 45.448 mi. grado 1 13.16 17.5 52.5 420 1750 14,583.3 21,937.5 5,572.67 3.463 mi. legua común - 1 1.33 4 32 133.33 1111.11 1,668 4,179.50 2.597 mi. legua legal - - 1 3 24 100 834 1,251 1,393.17 0.866 mi. milla - - - 1 8 33.33 278 417 174.14 0.108 mi. estadio - - - - 1 4.17 34.75 52.125 41.80 0.026 mi. cordel (cuerda, cadena) - - - - - 1 8.33 12.5 5.8232 19.103 ft. percha de Paris - - - - - - 1 1.74 3.3436 10.97 ft. estadal - - - - - - - 1 Medium-Scale Lengths Meters Feet Spanish Unit estadal braza paso vara codo de ribera codo pie de Paris/ Rey pie 3.3436 10.97 estadal 1 2 2.4 4 6 8 10.334 12 1.6718 5.485 braza (estado, toesa, orgya) - 1 1.2 2 3 4 5.167 6 1.3932 4.571 paso - - 1 1.667 2.5 3.333 4.306 5 0.8359 2.742 vara - - - 1 1.5 2 2.584 3 0.5573 1.828 codo de ribera - - - - 1 1.333 1.722 2 0.41795 1.371 codo - - - - - 1 1.292 1.5 0.3235 1.0613 pie de Paris/ Rey - - - - - - 1 1.1612 0.2786 0.914 pie - - - - - - - 1 Small Scale Lengths Cm. Spanish Unit pie palmo mayor (cuarta) xeme (sexma) coto (octava) palmo menor/de ribera (dozava) 16 ava 24 ava pulgada dedo grano linea punto 27.86 pie (tercia) 1 1.333 2 2.666 4 5.333 8 12 16 64 192 2,304 20.90 palmo mayor (cuarta) - 1 1.5 2 3 4 6 9 12 48 144 1,728 13.93 xeme (sexma) - - 1 1.333 2 2.666 4 6 8 32 96 1,152 10.45 coto (octava) - - - 1 1.5 2 3 4.5 6 24 72 864 6.97 palmo menor/de ribera (dozava) - - - - 1 1.333 2 3 4 16 48 576 5.22 16 ava - - - - - 1 1.5 2.25 3 12 36 432 3.48 24 ava - - - - - - 1 1.5 2 8 24 288 2.32 pulgada - - - - - - - 1 1.333 5.333 16 192 1.74 dedo - - - - - - - - 1 4 12 144 0.44 grano - - - - - - - - - 1 3 36 0.15 linea - - - - - - - - - - 1 12 0.0125 punto - - - - - - - - - - - 1 Large Land Areas Hectares/Ares Spanish Unit caballería yugada fanega de trigo fanega (1/26/ 1801) fanega (avg.) aranzada/ fanega de cebada arpen (Paris) 33.54035 h. caballería 1 1.2 50 52 60 75 118 27.95029 h. yugada - 1 41.7 43.3 50 62.5 98.6 0.670807 h. fanega de trigo - - 1 1.04 1.20 1.5 2.34 0.643975 h. fanega (1/26/1801) - - - 1 1.15 10.41 2.27 0.559006 h. fanega (avg.) - - - - 1 1.25 1.97 0.447205 h. aranzada /fanega de cebada - - - - - 1 1.58 0.159373 h. arpen (Paris) - - - - - - 1 Small Land Areas Hectares/Ares Spanish Unit arpen (Paris) celemín cuartillo estadal cuadrado vara cuadrada pie cuadrado 0.159373 h. arpen (Paris) 1 5.27 21.1 253 4,055 36,494 0.053663 h. celemín - 1 4 48 768 12,288 0.013416 h. cuartillo - - 1 12 192 1,728 0.111798 a. estadal cuadrado - - - 1 16 144 0.00698 a. vara cuadrada - - - - 1 9 0.000776 a. pie cuadrado - - - - - 1

It should be noted that gold coinage was not minted in New Spain until 1675, and the values for New Spain presented in this table were used as theoretical equivalents to the value of gold coinage used in Spain. The stated values were instead applied to the silver coinage actually minted in New Spain after 1535 (coins of 1, 2, and 4 reales, and pesos amounting to 8 reales; see table above). All values were based on equivalent numbers of maravedís (a basic unit of measure corresponding to copper and copper-alloy coinage normally only used in Spain; see table below for relative purities of metals). During this period, the average peso of legal gold (93.7%, or 22.5 carats) was considered to be worth 450 maravedís and weighed 4.6 grams, while the average peso of legal silver (93.1%, or 11 dineros, 4 granos) was considered to be worth 272 maravedís and weighed 27.46 grams (making gold about 9.8 times more valuable than silver by weight).