I won a one Roman pound, 12 uncia, one (libra) As weight from CNG last week. It arrived yesterday and it is BIG, 332 grams of bronze. The shape is two, truncated, oval cones placed back to back; Oval = 53.5 / 49.6 diameter & 24.6 mm tall. The weight has inscriptions and a face punched into the weight. Obv - Face right, EX.BMC.SC inscribed clockwise around top half Rev - L punched into center (I think it could be an I which was the letter for one pound = As during the early Roman Republic.) Anyone here recognize the face (better pic below) or inscription? The seller's pic - I can tell that I need another book or two on the subject of weights. The book I use, Scales & Weights by Bruno Kisch, has several tables with letters for this weight: 1 Pound = A (all of the forms of A found on Roman Republican coins) = 12 ounces (uncia) 1 As (poundo) = I = 327.45 grams 1 Libra (as) = 12 ounces = 327.45 grams Suggestions would be appreciated. I have unsuccessfully looked for - Byzantine Weights: An Introduction; Book by Simon Bendall; Originally published in 1996. I found the book on two web sites (Vcoins and one other), but it was sold when I checked. I did not find it on Amazon. BW by Bendall is given as a reference on many of the weights I have seen on the internet. I have a half As weight = 6 Uncia with inscriptions also. 154 grams of bronze. The shape is two, truncated, circular cones placed back to back. The piece has inscriptions punched into the top. Obv - VNCIA (and something after A), top row; VI, bottom row; center dot surrounded by a circle. Rev - center dot surrounded by a circle. A few of the items that have arrived recently: A bit more is on my blog. http://rrdenarius.blogspot.com/
Uber cool. It is interesting, I had not noticed the lot in the last auction. Ah well. As for the book, I would suggest you contact Charles Davis (he is on VCoins) and let him know you are looking for the title. You would be amazed at the books he either has or can locate.
LOL, WAY cool Gene! Those are some great weights, and I DID miss them in CNG... however, I was distracted with my capture from Kuenker, so I was not paying good attention to other auctions. So, would you have any ideas to the dates? Are these pre-denarii / Aes Grave era?
I do not know dates for the pieces. My interest is in Republican era pieces, but it looks like these pieces stayed around a long time and dating them is tuff. I am looking for a book or two on the subject. This is what the sellers said: 150 gram bronze with VI - It looks like a byzantine weight, but it has a Roman inscription VNCIAS VI. 327 gram bronze with face - ROMAN. Circa 4th century AD(?). 130 gram Sardo-Punic lead weight - no date info given
Awesome!! Can you take a photo holding it in your hand when it arrives? I'd like to see what holding 332 grams looks like.
It is big at 330 grams. I think the oval outer diameter, 53.5 / 49.6 X 24.6 mm tall, makes it look a bit bigger. It looks more than twice as big as the half pound weight (6 uncia) which is 154 grams and 33 mm diameter X 26 mm tall. The aes rude is 49 grams and the lead weight (white color) is 130 grams.
