a talent (ancient greek , "talanton" 'scale' and 'balance') was a unit of weight of approximately , and when used as a unit of money, was valued for that weight of silver. as a unit of currency, a talent was worth about 6,000 denarii. a denarius was the usual payment for a day's labour. at 1 (one) denarius per day, a single talent was therefore worth 16 years of labor.