Originally Posted by
Ditchdigger
The phrase "worth his salt" is said to have originated in the fact that Roman soldiers were payed with salt.
Roman legion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <== paid in coin minus food and other taxes
Denarius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <=== small silver coins worth about 10 copper coins ==>
As (Roman coin) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If you follow the last link down to market place values you will see that there must have been quite a bunch of copper coins floating around.
Yes salt was used as payment as well:
History of Salt | SaltWorks
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