Coin weights

Coin weights are weights used to weigh precious-metal coins in order to assure they were not underweight (It is easy to shave a bit of metal off the edge of a silver or gold coin).^[1]

The usage of coin weights, especially glass ones, goes back to Ptolemaic and Byzantine times.^[1] Coin weights were also known in Ancient China.^[2]

In Islamic civilization, they are called Sanadjāt.^[1] Up to that point coins were only compared to coins of good quality.^[1] Islamic coin weights were made of bronze, iron, and later glass (considered to be unalterable).^[1] They bear inscriptions related to Islamic rulers and moneyers and are therefore valuable epigraphical objects.^[1]

Coins weights were also known in the Carolingian Empire, where they were stamped with regular coin dyes to clarify their attribution.^[3] Islamic coin weights were introduced to Great Britain in the 9-10th century CE through the Vikings.^[4]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Arnold, T.W. (1987). Houtsma, M. Th (ed.). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. Brill. p. 195. ISBN 9789004082656.
2. ^ Scheidel, Walter (5 February 2009). Rome and China: Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires. Oxford University Press. p. 144. ISBN 9780199714292.
3. ^ Coupland, Simon (2007). Carolingian Coinage and the Vikings: Studies on Power and Trade in the 9th Century. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 38. ISBN 9780860789918.
4. ^ "Department of Coins and Medals". British Museum exhibit. Trustees of the British Museum. Retrieved 3 August 2019.

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