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Message:: [QUOTE="robinjojo, post: 4292330, member: 110226"]Here's a charming carving of a frog, which served as a weight two millennia ago, this one equaling 1 1/2 shekels. I purchased this artifact from Harlan J Berk last year.  Here's the description: "Old Babylonian Period, ca. first half of the 2nd Millennium BC. The frog is superbly sculpted in a green mottled stone with white inclusions. Excellent even finishing brings out the moss-like patterns in the stone. American Private Collection, acquired 1981. L. 2 7/8" H. 1 5/8" (7.3 cm x 4 cm).." Upon receiving the weight, I examined its composition.  The carving is dentritic agate, a very hard stone at 7 on the mohs scale (talc, at one, the softest and diamond at ten, the hardest).  Close examination reveals flower-like formations in greenish-yellowish chalcedony.  These are manganese deposits.  The white areas are probably from the weathered surface of the stone.  Chalcedony, over the eons, bleaches on the surface, turning it into an opal-like opaque white. I imagine that this carving was originally a river stone, perhaps from the Tigris or Euphrates itself!  [ATTACH=full]1092608[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1092605[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]