It's hard to disprove the myth that salt was once worth its weight in gold. Instead, what's the highest price of salt (as measured in gold) we have historical evidence for?
Edit, explaining why I'm asking this question:
I've found many questions and articles along the lines of
- "When and where was salt as valuable as gold?" [It wasn't.]
- "Was salt ever worth as much as gold?" [No.]
I find questions phrased like this unsatisfactory for a couple reasons. The first one is their answers don't have great citations. Even the Wikipeda Page page has a [citation needed]. Phrasing the question as "did X happen" places the burden of proof on proving that something happened. When something extraordinary didn't happen the answer is "no", and no proof is required.
I would like to know more about from what historical situation this myth originated. I'm particularly curious where and when salt was the most valuable, along with why.
It's like the difference between asking "Did China discover the Americas" [no] versus "What were the greatest trade voyages carried out in Pre-Colombian China?" I'm curious what historical conditions most likely brought about this myth. Perhaps the Mali Empire's salt-for-gold trade?