5th – 7th CENTURY AD BYZANTINE BRONZE w SILVER INLAY COMMERCIAL 82.4 GRAM WEIGHT

Description

BYZANTINE EMPIRE
5
th
TO 7
th
CENTURIES AD
THREE OUNCE SQUARE
COMMERCIAL WEIGHT
SILVER INLAID SURFACE CHARACTER ENGRAVINGS
82.39 GRAMS
EXCELLENT CONDITION WITH ORIGINAL GREEN PATINA
COMES WITH
CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY & ATTRIBUTION
THE SURFACE OF THE OBVERSE OF THIS SQUARE BRONZE BYZANTINE COMMERCIAL WEIGHT IS INLAID WITH SILVER, ACCENTING THE CENTER OF THE ENGRAVED CHARACTERS. THERE IS A CROSS AT THE TOP WITH PELLETS AT THE ANGLES AND CORNERS. BENEATH ARE TWO SYMBOLS, “
G*
G
”, ALSO WITH PELLETS ORNAMENTING THE CORNERS AND ANGLES.
THE SYMBOL (THE GREEK LETTER FOR “G”, WITH A CIRCLE MADE OF NINE PELLETS IN THE ANGLE) AT THE LEFT IS AN ABBREVIATION OF OUNCE (OUNGIA). THE "G" SYMBOL AT THE RIGHT DESIGNATES THE WEIGHT (BECAUSE
GAMMA
IS THE THIRD LETTER OF THE GREEK ALPHABET).
REVERSE IS BLANK.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES WERE STRICTLY CONTROLLED BY THE CENTRALIZED ADMINISTRATION OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE.
THE SYSTEM OF WEIGHTS WAS BASED ON THE PRECURSOR TO THE BYZANTINE
LITRA
, THE ROMAN POUND. THE
LITRA
WAS EQUAL TO 72 GOLD
SOLIDI
(THE
SOLIDUS
WAS THE STANDARD GOLD COIN OF THE EMPIRE).
STANDARD WEIGHTS HELPED TO ENSURE CONSISTENCY AND PREVENT CORRUPTION, EVEN THOUGH RECORDS FROM THE PERIOD VERIFY THAT SOME TAX COLLECTORS USED HEAVIER WEIGHTS, AND SOME MERCHANTS USED LIGHTER ONES TO INCREASE THEIR PROFITS.
THERE WERE THREE COMMON SHAPES OF WEIGHTS IN USE, SQUARES, FLATTENED SPHERES AND DISCS. THESE WERE MADE OF BRONZE, GLASS AND LEAD, AND RARELY IN GOLD AND SILVER. THE SQUARE WEIGHTS WERE PREDOMINANT, AND IN USE FROM THE 5
th
TO 7
th
CENTURIES.
ORNAMENTING COMMERCIAL WEIGHTS WITH THE SYMBOL OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS IS AN EXAMPLE OF AN OUTWARD RELIGIOUS DEVOTION WHICH WAS PERVASIVE THROUGHOUT ALL ASPECTS OF BYZANTINE SOCIETY, EVEN DAY TO DAY COMMERCE.
SQUARE FACE MEASURES
34 mm x 33 mm.
7 mm - 8 mm THICK
You can arrange pickup from our Fort Lauderdale Rare Coin storefront location
Our business hours are Monday - Friday 10:00am-5:00pm EST
Please ask any/all questions with concerns before bidding / making a purchase.
Florida Sales Tax applicable to invoice totals under 0 of non legal tender USA coins and currency. All other states please contact eBay to find out about any possible taxes that may be charged prior to purchasing.
INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING & DELIVERY
PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO T HE CRISIS OCCURRING INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY HAS BECOME DELAYED ONCE THE PACKAGE ARRIVES TO CUSTOMS. PLEASE BE PATIENT AS THIS IS A HARD TIME FOR EVERYONE AND PACKAGES ARE GETTING DELIVERED, JUST NOT IN THE NORMAL TIMEFRAME. WE CAN OFFER FEDEX SHIPPING HOWEVER THE COST IS MUCH HIGHER. PLEASE INQUIRE IF INTERESTED
Due to increase in postage rates and large losses to our company when shipping first class packages we are now strictly shipping via Priority mail as it is more secure and traceable all the way to your door.
Import taxes and duties are NOT included in the item price or shipping charges.
We cannot declare any package as a "gift", ”sample”etc.
We now ship solely via USPS Priority Mail International or Fedex International for
your additional tracking and security and ensure delivery to customs.
Delivery times could get delayed to as much as 4 weeks depending on customs conditions.
It is the buyer's responsibility to check with your country's customs office to
determine what these additional costs (if any) will be prior to bidding or buying.
These charges are normally collected by the delivering freight (shipping) company or when you pick the item up from customs.
They are not additional shipping charges by RareCoinCollector.
eBay will calculate and add the applicable
sales tax at checkout. The buyer will pay both the cost of the item
along with the sales tax. eBay will collect and remit the tax.
Sellers are not able to opt out of selling items into the states
listed above or opt out of eBay automatically collecting sales tax.
Based on applicable tax laws, eBay will calculate, collect, and remit
sales tax on behalf of sellers for items shipped to customers.