The "obverse" of this Byzantine item reads IB. In coins, it would mean 12 Nummi. The "reverse" shows one only pellet or point. It's probably a weight. But what could the number 12 suggest in this case? Weight is 13.72 g.
A twelve nummi weight, probably for commercial purposes. Do a google for Byzantine weights. Best I can do for now. I never got into that particular area of Byzantine numismatics. Ok, I just remembered that I have a copy of Simon Bendals book Byzantine Weights an Introduction. All Byz weights were based upon the Roman pound the litra which was 12 oz's. Your weight is IB Byzantine, or XII Roman. Your weight is 1/12 of an ounce on that scale. "I" is one, "B" is two...so 1/12 of the pound, an Uncia. I hope this helps. If you are interested in the book, really pamphlet in size and 68 pages, 6 inches wide and 17 tall. It's printed on very good stock and is soft covered. Good luck. Best regards
Glad you discovered it. I'm too deep into the Byz world, I can't start another field, and yes they are fascinating and some very nicely engraved ones out there. So many coins, so little time. Black Friar.
@7Calbrey interesting barrel weight. Your have a semuncia (1/2 VNCIA, 12 Scripla or 3 Solidi) commercial weight. Two Byzantine weights have the inscription IB: 1/2 ounce = 13.6 nominal weight The IB in the lower right of this group is a 1/2 Solidius = 2.27 grams nominal weight the Bendall book is great, I bought mine from Harlan Berk.
Thank you indeed. I bought this weight together with 6 others . Here are the weights of 3 others : 48.73 - 29.49 - and 48.73 g.
The Roman pound = As = Libra was 327.45 grams, see the table from Bendall below. The 29.49 gram weight is a one uncia. The 48.7 gram weight is a bit on the light side, but could be a 2 uncia = sextans weight. You can look for marks on the weights.
