Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Nov 1811:00 AM PST
-12:00 PM PST
Join us in a live GMAT practice session and solve 30 challenging GMAT questions with other test takers in timed conditions, covering GMAT Quant, Data Sufficiency, Data Insights, Reading Comprehension, and Critical Reasoning questions.
Nov 2211:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – Learn effective reading strategies Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence Excel in timed test environment- Nov 23
11:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Attend this free GMAT Algebra Webinar and learn how to master the most challenging Inequalities and Absolute Value problems with ease. 
Nov 2510:00 AM EST
-11:00 AM EST
Prefer video-based learning? The Target Test Prep OnDemand course is a one-of-a-kind video masterclass featuring 400 hours of lecture-style teaching by Scott Woodbury-Stewart, founder of Target Test Prep and one of the most accomplished GMAT instructors.
16 Apr 2020, 05:19
Kudos
Bookmarks
A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
45%
(medium)
Question Stats:
74% (02:22) correct
26%
(02:33)
wrong
based on 645
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Numismatist: In medieval Spain, most gold coins were minted from gold mined in West Africa, in the area that is now Senegal. The gold mined in this region was the purest known. Its gold content of 92 percent allowed coins to be minted without refining the gold, and indeed coins minted from this source of gold can be recognized because they have that gold content. The mints could refine gold and produced other kinds of coins that had much purer gold content, but the Senegalese gold was never refined.
As a preliminary to negotiating prices, merchants selling goods often specified that payment should be in the coins minted from Senegalese gold. Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain this preference?
(A) Because refined gold varied considerably in purity, specifying a price as a number of refined-gold coins did not fix the quantity of gold received in payment.
(B) During this period most day-to-day trading was conducted using silver coins, though gold coins were used for costly transactions and long-distance commerce.
(C) The mints were able to determine the purity, and hence the value, of gold coins by measuring their density.
(D) Since gold coins’ monetary value rested on the gold they contained, payments were frequently made using coins minted in several different countries.
(E) Merchants obtaining gold to resell for use in jewelry could not sell the metal unless it was first refined.
As a preliminary to negotiating prices, merchants selling goods often specified that payment should be in the coins minted from Senegalese gold. Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain this preference?
(A) Because refined gold varied considerably in purity, specifying a price as a number of refined-gold coins did not fix the quantity of gold received in payment.
(B) During this period most day-to-day trading was conducted using silver coins, though gold coins were used for costly transactions and long-distance commerce.
(C) The mints were able to determine the purity, and hence the value, of gold coins by measuring their density.
(D) Since gold coins’ monetary value rested on the gold they contained, payments were frequently made using coins minted in several different countries.
(E) Merchants obtaining gold to resell for use in jewelry could not sell the metal unless it was first refined.
yashikaaggarwal
Senior Moderator - Masters Forum
Joined: 19 Jan 2020
Last visit: 17 Jul 2025
Posts: 3,086
Given Kudos: 1,510
Location: India
Schools: Cranfield (A) Warwick MiM "23 (M)
GPA: 4
WE:Analyst (Internet and New Media)
16 Apr 2020, 05:28
Kudos
Bookmarks
Answer is considerably A,
Because of the refined gold varied considerably in purity, specifying a price as a number of refined-gold coins did not fix the quantity of gold received in payment.
The merchants demand coins minted by Senegalese Gold.
Posted from my mobile device
Because of the refined gold varied considerably in purity, specifying a price as a number of refined-gold coins did not fix the quantity of gold received in payment.
The merchants demand coins minted by Senegalese Gold.
Posted from my mobile device
17 Apr 2023, 18:24
Kudos
Bookmarks
Why is C not correct. If we assume all Senegal coins are 92% then they are easily converted into value given the constant currency. Seems to offer a very valid reason why they would be preferred.
