PrepTest 102, Section 2, Question 14
Numismatist: In medieval Spain, most gold coins were(81 more words not shown)
As a preliminary to negotiating(30 more words not shown)
- ABecause refined gold(23 more words not shown)
- BDuring this period(19 more words not shown)
- CThe mints were(16 more words not shown)
- DSince gold coins'(19 more words not shown)
- EMerchants obtaining gold(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
If I ask for five gold coins, how much gold am I actually getting?
That matters to a merchant trying to set a price. The passage gives Senegalese gold a consistent purity: 92 percent. The mints never refine it, so the coins from that source keep that content. They also make other coins with purer gold, but the mere fact that a coin is purer doesn't tell us whether a payment in unspecified coins is predictable.
What we’re looking for
Now the question adds that merchants specify Senegalese-gold coins before negotiating prices. Why choose that particular type? I'd look for the value of consistency. A merchant selling a donkey could negotiate a number of familiar coins more confidently than a number of coins whose gold content might vary. The point isn't that 92 percent is always better than 95 percent. It's that knowing what sort of payment you're discussing can make the bargain clearer.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Refined gold varied enough in purity that a stated number of those coins didn't fix how much gold the seller would receive. That explains preferring coins with a known, consistent 92 percent content. For coins of comparable weight, five coins at one purity can contain a different amount of gold from five at another. Specifying the familiar source removes that uncertainty about purity before the price is negotiated.
We haven't established that every Senegalese coin weighs the same. The answer's useful point is narrower: variable purity creates uncertainty, and the specified source has consistent purity. It gives a reason for the merchants' preference without requiring a claim that every feature of every coin is identical.
- B
This explains which transactions use gold rather than silver. The question is why merchants prefer one kind of gold coin over other gold coins. A distinction between everyday purchases and costly or distant transactions doesn't resolve that more specific preference.
- C
The mints' ability to measure purity tells us how coin producers could assess composition. It doesn't tell us that merchants can conveniently perform the same measurement at every sale, or explain why they favor Senegalese coins. Being able to measure a variable is different from having a reason to prefer one standardized form of payment.
- D
Accepting coins from several countries doesn't explain why merchants would first specify this source of gold. National origin and Senegalese gold content aren't the same distinction: a coin made in a country could use imported gold. D tells us payments use varied coinage without identifying the advantage of the requested type.
- E
This concerns merchants buying gold for resale as jewelry material, not sellers specifying payment for goods generally. Moreover, a requirement that the metal first be refined gives no advantage to the Senegalese gold described as unrefined. It doesn't explain the stated preference.
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