In old times, there was a double standard: (1.) The hundrað talið, hundred (of wool, etc.) by tale = 120 ells; and (2.) The hundrað vegið (weight) or sifrs (of silver), in rings, coin, and so forth, the latter = 2½ marks = 20 ounces = 60 örtugar, the half örtug being probably the unit. The phrase, “Six ells to an ounce” (i.e., 120 ells = 20 ounces), refers to silver and Wadmal at par; but, as the coinage was debased, the 6 became successively 9, 10, 11, and 12.
In 1810, the absolute value of the hundrað represented:
One milch cow or two horses (each = 60 ells).
A proportionate number of sheep (= six to eight) and lambs (= eighteen); each milch ewe = 20 ells in spring, and each wether = 10 ells.
One fishing-boat, with six oars, nets, and lines.
$46 in specie.
In 1872, the proportion was:
One bull, bullock, ox, or cow, calf-bearing or not.
Two horses or three mares, four years old or upwards; riding-horses = two-thirds of the hundred.
Six milch or eight milkless ewes; six wethers, three years old, and older; ten wethers, two years old; or eighteen sheep, one or two years old.