LSAT 102 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q14

LR Question 14 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Numismatist: In medieval Spain, most gold coins were minted from…

QUESTION TYPE: Paradox

PARADOX: Merchants often insisted on Senegalese gold before they would talk about price.

ANALYSIS: This is a continuation of the previous question. We don’t know much about the commercial value of gold, or anything about merchants.

So we just need a plausible reason for why merchants would prefer Senegalese coins.

___________

1. CORRECT. This shows that only Senegalese coins were trustworthy enough to be used as a basis for payment. (Presumably, once the amount was set, payment could take another form. Senegalese gold was just used to set prices with exactness)
2. This information about silver deepens the mystery. If merchants often insisted on Senegalese gold, why were most transactions in silver?
3. Could merchants determine the purity of coins? Merchants aren’t mints, so I’m not sure what this tells us.
4. If merchants took payment in various kinds of gold, this doesn’t explain why they negotiated in Senegalese gold.
5. So? Senegalese gold wasn’t refined, so it’s not clear why merchants would want it for jewelry.

Recap: The question begins with “Numismatist: In medieval Spain, most gold coins were minted from”. It is a Paradox question. Learn more about LSAT Paradox questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.