Leu Numismatik AG
Auction 7 24-25 Oct 2020
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Circa 4th-6th centuries. Weight of 6 Ounkia (Orichalcum, 45x45 mm, 113.08 g), a uniface square commercial weight with plain edges. Γᴑ S with large cross between; all engraved in outline and inlaid in silver; all within stylized wreath; in upper left and right corners, floral ornaments. Rev. Five large and four smaller semi-spherical holes. Cf. Bendall 58 CPAI 3.2, 71, MAH 27 and Pondera 3955 (all of full weight). A curious and very interesting piece. The inlays missing, otherwise, extremely fine.
This is an extremely curious piece: it was clearly meant to be a weight of 6 ounkia, but the reverse shows a stellate pattern of five large and four smaller drilling holes, cutting down its weight from the supposed 163.5 g for half a libra to a mere 113.08 g. The only reason this cataloguer can come up with as to why this was done is fraudulent intent: perhaps a dishonest official or merchant used such a manipulated weight to rip off tax payers or customers, in which case the back must have been concealed by a leather or wooden cover. Naturally, a loss in weight of close to 30 % would still have been apparent to most people, however, if the weight was used in combination with other, non-manipulated weights for heavier quantities of goods, the fraud would have been much harder to detect.
This is an extremely curious piece: it was clearly meant to be a weight of 6 ounkia, but the reverse shows a stellate pattern of five large and four smaller drilling holes, cutting down its weight from the supposed 163.5 g for half a libra to a mere 113.08 g. The only reason this cataloguer can come up with as to why this was done is fraudulent intent: perhaps a dishonest official or merchant used such a manipulated weight to rip off tax payers or customers, in which case the back must have been concealed by a leather or wooden cover. Naturally, a loss in weight of close to 30 % would still have been apparent to most people, however, if the weight was used in combination with other, non-manipulated weights for heavier quantities of goods, the fraud would have been much harder to detect.