Tables of Spanish Colonial Weights and Measures

Back to Main Weights and Measures Page

See also: Quick Conversion Tables

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. For some of these measures, I have also created a page of Quick Conversion Tables to avoid having to calculate each measure individually.

Weights / Medicinal Weights / Precious Metal Weights / Currency / Late Currency / 16th Century Monetary Values / Liquid Volume / Olive Oil Volume / Dry Volume / Shipping Volume (16thC) / Shipping Volume (palmeo) / Wine Container Volume / Large-Scale Lengths / Medium-Scale Lengths / Small-Scale Lengths / Land Area 

Also below, I have also created tables with direct conversions between standard Spanish, English, and French measurements during the colonial era.

Feet Conversions / Terrestrial League Conversions / Maritime League Conversions / Acre Conversions / Pound Conversions / Gallon Conversions

---

Weights (except medicines and precious metals) Pounds Kilograms Spanish Unit carga tercio quintal arroba arrelde* libra marco onza ochava adarme tomin grano 304.2993 138.028 carga 1 2 3 12 75 300 600 4,800 38,400 76,800 230,400 2,764,800 152.1494 69.0139 tercio - 1 1.5 6 37.5 150 300 2,400 19,200 38,400 115,200 1,382,400 101.4330 46.0093 quintal - - 1 4 25 100 200 1,600 12,800 25,600 76,800 921,600 245.8202 111.5023 arroba - - - 1 6.25 25 50 400 3,200 6,400 19,200 230,400 4.05729 1.84036 arrelde* - - - - 1 4 8 64 512 1,024 3,072 36,864 1.01432 0.46009 libra - - - - - 1 2 16 128 256 768 9,216 0.50717 0.23005 marco - - - - - - 1 8 64 128 384 4,608 0.06340 0.02876 onza - - - - - - - 1 8 16 48 576 0.00791 0.00359 ochava - - - - - - - - 1 2 6 72 0.00397 0.00180 adarme - - - - - - - - - 1 3 36 0.00132 0.00060 tomin - - - - - - - - - - 1 12 0.00011 0.00005 grano - - - - - - - - - - - 1

*Measure only used for meat.

Top of Page

Medicinal Weights Pounds Kilograms Spanish Unit libra medicinal cuarteron onza cuarta dracma (ochava) escrúpulo óbolo caractér grano 0.7607 0.34506 libra medicinal 1 4 12 48 96 288 576 1,728 6912 0.1902 0.08627 cuarteron - 1 3 12 24 72 144 432 1,728 0.0634 0.02876 onza - - 1 4 8 24 48 144 576 0.0159 0.00719 cuarta - - - 1 2 6 12 36 144 0.0792 0.03594 dracma (ochava) - - - - 1 3 6 18 72 0.0026 0.00120 escrúpulo - - - - - 1 2 6 24 0.00132 0.00060 óbolo - - - - - - 1 3 12 0.00044 0.00020 caractér - - - - - - - 1 4 0.00011 0.00005 grano - - - - - - - - 1

Top of Page

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

Top of Page

Currency Values in Common Spanish Colonial Usage Spanish Unit ducado escudo peso tostón real maravedí ducado (accounting unit of 11 reales, 1 maravedí, or 375 maravedís) 1 1.1 1.38 2.75 11.03 375 escudo (accounting unit of 10 reales)   1 1.25 2.5 10 340 peso (silver coinage @27.46g per peso) - - 1 2 8 272 tostón (accounting unit of 4 reales, or 1/2 peso) - - - 1 4 136 real (silver coinage @3.43g per real) - - - - 1 34 maravedí (accounting unit; also copper/copper alloy coin not normally in colonial circulation) - - - - - 1

Top of Page

Currency in Spanish Louisiana and Second Spanish Florida Spanish Unit doblón de oro doblón de plata/ cambio ducado de plata/ cambio peso escudo de plata/ cambio real de plata Mexicano real de plata provincial real de plata antigua real de vellón sueldo de peso de plata/ cambio maravedí de plata antigua maravedí de vellón doblón de oro 1.00 1.25 3.63 5.00 30.12 37.65 40.00 75.29 100.00 1360.00 2560.00 doblón de plata/ cambio   1.00 2.90 4.00 24.09 30.12 32.00 60.24 80.00 1088.00 2048.00 ducado de plata/ cambio     1.00 1.38 8.30 10.38 11.03 20.76 27.57 375.00 705.88 peso escudo de plata/ cambio       1.00 6.02 7.53 8.00 15.06 20.00 272.00 512.00 real de plata Mexicano         1.00 1.25 1.33 2.50 3.32 45.16 85.00 real de plata provincial           1.00 1.06 2.00 2.66 36.12 68.00 real de plata antigua             1.00 1.88 2.50 34.00 64.00 real de vellón               1.00 1.33 18.06 34.00 sueldo de peso de plata/ cambio                 1.00 13.60 25.60 maravedí de plata antigua                   1.00 1.88 maravedí de vellón                     1.00

For details on the monetary units above, see the 1795 source here. See also the 1816 English-language explanation of conversions to United States currency here.

Top of Page

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

Top of Page

Liquid Volume (except Olive Oil) Spanish Weight(Libras @16 oz) Spanish Volume (Pies Cúbicas) Gallons/ Pints Liters Spanish Unit bota pipa moyo arroba (cántara) cuartilla azumbre cuartillo copa 1,020 lbs.  6,959.95 127.9 gal 483.99 bota 1 1.071 1.875 30 120 240 960 3,840 952 lbs.  6492.73 119.3 gal 451.5 pipa - 1 1.75 28 112 224 896 3,584 544 lbs. 3712 68.18 gal 258.13 moyo - - 1 16 64 128 512 2,048 34 lbs. 1,237.333 4.261 gal 16.133 arroba (cántara) - - - 1 4 8 32 128 8 lbs., 8 oz. 309.333 1.065 gal 4.033 cuartilla - - - - 1 2 8 32 4 lbs., 4 oz. 154.667 0.533 gal 2.017 azumbre - - - - - 1 4 16 1 lb., 1 oz. 38.667 1.065 pt 0.504 cuartillo - - - - - - 1 4 4.25 oz. 9.667 0.266 pt 0.126 copa - - - - - - - 1

Top of Page

Olive Oil Volume Spanish Weight (Libras @16 oz) Spanish Volume (Pulgadas Cúbicas) Gallons/ Pints Liters Spanish Unit quintal arroba menor (cántara) cuartilla terrazgo libra panilla onza 2,656.25 lbs. 9,666.667 33.18 gal 125.63 quintal 1 10 40 100 250 1,000 4,000 26.5625 libras (26 lbs., 9 oz.) 966.667 3.318 gal 12.563 arroba menor (cántara) - 1 4 10 25 100 400 6.64 libras 241.667 0.83 gal 3.141 cuartilla - - 1 2.5 6.25 25 100 2.656 libras 96.667 2.654 pt 1.256 terrazgo - - - 1 2.5 10 40 1.0625 libras 38.667 1.065 pt 0.504 libra (cuartillo) - - - - 1 4 16 4.25 onzas 9.667 0.266 pt 0.126 cuarterón (panilla) - - - - - 1 4 1.0625 onzas 2.417 0.066 pt 0.0314 onza - - - - - - 1

Top of Page

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

Top of Page

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

Top of Page

Shipping Volume (post-1590) Metric Volume Spanish Unit tonelada pipa codo real 1.518 m2 tonelada 1 2 8 0.342 m2 pipa - 1 4 0.1898 m2 codo real - - 1

Top of Page

Shipping Volume (post-1720, 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

Top of Page

Wine Container Volume, System 1 (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

Top of Page

Wine Container Volume, System 2 (rough conversions) Liters Arrobas Spanish Unit bota media bota cuarterola barril de carga barril de media carga barril de 1 arroba 483.99 30 bota 1 2 4 7.5 15 30 241.995 15 media bota - 1 2 3.75 7.5 15 120.998 7.5 cuarterola - - 1 1.875 3.75 7.5 64.532 4 barril de carga - - - 1 2 4 32.266 2 barril de media carga - - - - 1 2 16.133 1 barril de 1 arroba - - - - - 1

*See, for example, 1832 source here.

Top of Page

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

Top of Page

Medium-Scale Lengths Meters Feet Spanish Unit estadal braza paso vara c. de ribera (Mal.) c. de ribera (Cant.) c. de ribera (Cast.) c. geom./común pie de Paris/ Rey pie 3.3436 10.97 estadal 1 2 2.4 4 5.672 5.8180 6 8 10.334 12 1.6718 5.485 braza (estado, toesa, orgya) - 1 1.2 2 2.836 2.9090 3 4 5.167 6 1.3932 4.571 paso - - 1 1.667 2.3529 2.4242 2.5 3.333 4.306 5 0.8359 2.742 vara - - - 1 1.4118 1.4545 1.5 2 2.584 3 0.5921 1.943 codo de ribera (Malaga) - - - - 1 1.0303 1.0625 1.416 1.830 2.1250 0.5747 1.885 codo de ribera (Cantabria) - - - -   1 1.0313 1.375 1.776 2.0625 0.5573 1.828 codo de ribera (Castilla) - - - -     1 1.333 1.722 2 0.41795 1.371 codo geometrico / común - - - -     - 1 1.292 1.5 0.3235 1.0613 pie de Paris/ Rey - - - -     - - 1 1.1612 0.2786 0.914 pie - - - -     - - - 1

Top of Page

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

Top of Page

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

Top of Page

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

Top of Page

Spanish feet (pies) are 9% shorter than English feet, while French feet (pieds) are 6.5% longer than English feet.

Converting Feet between National and Metric Standards Base Unit Spanish pies English feet French pieds Metric meters Spanish pies to 1.0000 0.9142 0.8578 0.2786 English feet to 1.0939 1.0000 0.9383 0.3048 French pieds to 1.1658 1.0657   1.0000 0.3248

Top of Page

Spanish statute leagues (leguas legales) are 13% shorter than English statute leagues, while French leagues (lieues de 3,000 pas) are 1% longer than English statute leagues.

Converting Terrestrial Leagues between National and Metric Standards Base Unit Spanish leguas legales English statute leagues French lieues de 3,000 pas Metric meters Spanish leguas legales to 1.0000 0.8656 0.8578 4179 English statute leagues to 1.1553 1.0000 0.9910 4828 French lieues de 3,000 pas to 1.1658 1.0091 1.0000 4872

Top of Page

Maritime leagues are all within 1% of each other; Spanish maritime leagues (leguas maritimas) are just 0.03% shorter than French maritime leagues (lieues marines), while English nautical leagues are 0.65% longer than French maritime leagues (lieues marines).

Converting Maritime Leagues between National and Metric Standards Base Unit Spanish leguas maritimas French lieues marines English nautical leagues Metric meters Spanish leguas maritimas to 1.0000 1.0003 1.0068 5558 French lieues marines to 0.9997 1.0000 1.0065 5560 English nautical leagues to 0.9932 0.9935 1.0000 5596

Top of Page

The Spanish fanega is 9% larger than the English acre, and 6% larger than the French arpent. For reference, a Spanish fanega is equal to 240 Spanish pies squared, a French arpent is equal to 200 French pieds squared, and an English acre is 66 English feet by 660 English feet.

Converting Acres between National and Metric Standards Measure Spanish fanegas French arpents English acres Metric hectares Spanish fanegas to 1.00000 1.05948 1.10476 0.44707 French arpents to 0.94386 1.00000 1.04274 0.42198 English acres to 0.90518 0.95902 1.00000 0.40468

Top of Page

Spanish pounds (libras) are 1.4% heavier than English pounds, and French pounds (livres) are 8.5% heavier than English pounds.

Converting Pounds between National and Metric Standards Base Unit Spanish libras English pounds French livres Metric kilograms Spanish libras to 1.00000 1.01433 0.93484 0.46009 English pounds to 0.98587 1.00000 0.92163 0.45359 French livres to 1.06970 1.08503  1.00000 0.49216

Top of Page

Spanish azumbres are nearly 7% larger than English half gallons, but only 1% larger than French quades.

Converting Half Gallons between National and Metric Standards Base Unit Spanish azumbres English     half gallons French quades Metric liters Spanish azumbres to 1.00000 1.0657 1.0592 2.017 English half gallons to 0.9384 1.00000 0.9939 1.8927 French quades to 0.9441 1.0061  1.00000 1.9043

Top of Page