Ounces to Obols (oz to obol)

1 ounce equals 38.95949124 obols (rounded).

1 ounce = 38.95949124 obols

How to convert ounces to obols

To convert ounces to obols, multiply the number of ounces by 38.95949124. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply obols by 0.02566768631 (rounded).

obols = ounces × 38.95949124

Example: 10 ounces = 389.5949124 obols.

Approximate value. Standards for the obol varied by place and period, so this converter uses the most commonly cited value. Treat results as estimates, not exact figures.

About these units

Ounce (oz)

US & ImperialCurrent unit

One sixteenth of a pound, exactly 28.349523125 g. Used for food, mail and consumer goods in the US and UK.

A twelfth part is what ounce originally meant. It comes from the Roman uncia, one twelfth of the Roman pound, a word that also gave English the inch. The abbreviation oz does not come from English at all but from the Italian onza or oncia. Over the centuries many regions and trades used different ounces: the English Tower ounce of 29.16 g was abolished by Henry VIII in 1527, and the Dutch ons was redefined as exactly 100 g in 1820.

The avoirdupois ounce used for everyday goods is one sixteenth of a pound, exactly 28.349523125 g or 437.5 grains, the standard in the US and under the UK imperial system. It is not the same as the troy ounce for precious metals, and neither is the fluid ounce, which measures volume. Ounces still describe portions such as steaks and burgers, and they show up in unexpected places: fabric is graded by weight per area, so a 16 oz denim is a heavy cloth, and the copper on a circuit board is specified in ounces, where 1 oz is roughly 34.7 micrometres thick.

1 ounce = 0.02834952313 kilograms (approximately).

Sources: Wikipedia: Ounce; NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.8 (mass conversions)

Obol (obol)

Ancient GreekHistorical unit (no longer in standard use)Approximate value

One sixth of a drachma, about 0.73 g.

Before coins, Greek bullion money circulated as iron or bronze rods called obeloi, which literally means spits. Six of them could be held in one hand, and that handful gave the drachma its name. When silver coinage appeared, the small coin worth one rod kept the title obol, so a word for a cooking skewer ended up naming the sixth part of a drachma.

On the Attic standard an obol weighed about 0.72 grams, and the figure used here, 0.7277 g, is simply the drachma figure divided by six. Surviving coins vary, and the Aeginetic obol was heavier, near 1.05 grams. Each obol was in turn split into four tetartemoria of about 0.18 grams. The obol was the small change of Athens: jurors were paid in fractions of a drachma, and its weight is comparable to a single paperclip or a small grain of rice, about a fortieth of an ounce.

1 obol = 0.0007276666667 kilograms (approximately).

Sources: Wikipedia: Ancient drachma; Wikipedia: Ancient Greek units of measurement

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