Al-Walid ibn Abdul-Rahman - Inscribed Pound Weight - Walters 476 - Three Quarter Left

Coin weights are weights which were designed to weigh

coins A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

in order to assure their quality. The usage of coin weights, especially glass ones, goes back to

Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter * Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

times. Coin weights were also known in Ancient China. In Islamic civilization, where they are called ''Sanadjāt'', coin weights are said to have been introduced by a Jew named Sumair in 694. Up to that point coins were only compared to coins of good quality. Islamic coin weights were made of bronze, iron, and later glass (considered to be unalterable). They bear inscriptions related to Islamic rulers and moneyers and are therefore valuable

epigraphical Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

objects. Coins weights were also known in the

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the ...

, where they were stamped with regular coin dyes to clarify their attribution. Islamic coin weights were introduced to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

in the 9-10th century CE through the Vikings.

Notes

{{Commons category Numismatics