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Ancient Byzantine Bronze Square 1-Nomisma Coin Weight (4.33g — c. 5th–7th Century AD)
Authenticity & Guarantee
Certification: Certified Authentic — includes signed Certificate of Authenticity (COA) with full provenance documentation.
Provenance: Ex-private European collection, legally acquired from international sales; Byzantine Sphere.
Item Specifications & Exact Dimensions
Object: Square Cast Bronze Coin Weight (Exagium Solidi / 1-Nomisma Standard)
Culture / Period: Byzantine Empire (Early Byzantine Era)
Date Range: Circa 5th Century AD – 7th Century AD (c. 400 – 650 AD)
Mass / Exact Weight: 4.33 grams (calibrated to the 1-Nomisma / Gold Solidus coin standard)
Material: Cast Bronze (Copper Alloy)
Form & Architecture: Thick square bronze plaque; obverse deeply engraved with the Greek capital letter N (Nomisma), denoting the official standard value for testing pure gold solidus coinage; smooth unadorned reverse; sharp square edge profile
Condition: Exceptional, complete ancient condition. Sharp square geometry, deeply incised letter N with crisp strokes, preserved under an authentic dark charcoal-black patina with bright creamy-tan burial encrustation filling the engraved letter matrix. Free of modern restoration or tooling.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT & TYPOLOGICAL LORE
Byzantine Gold Coin Testing & The Nomisma Standard
In the Byzantine Empire, the imperial gold solidus (known in Greek as the nomisma) was the universal currency of Mediterranean trade. To combat coin clipping, sweating, or counterfeiting in commercial transactions, merchants, money changers (trapezitai), and tax officials carried standardized square bronze weights to verify that gold coins met the official full-weight threshold.
The Inscribed Letter "N" Denomination
The deeply carved letter N stands directly for NOMISMA (or Nomismata), designating this weight as the official single-solidus testing standard. At 4.33 grams, this weight aligns precisely with the slightly circulated / official exchange mass of a 5th–7th century Byzantine gold solidus, making it a critical tool of early medieval commercial law.
Typological Analysis & Exact Classification
Primary Class: Byzantine Metrology / Imperial Coin Weight (Exagium)
Sub-Class: Square Inscribed Letter "N" 1-Nomisma Weight Class
Manufacturing Technique: Cast bronze square plate with hand-chased / incised Greek letter denomination.
Comparable Archaeological Examples & Museum Accession Numbers
British Museum (Accession No. 1980,1202.24): Early Byzantine square bronze weight inscribed with letter N for 1 nomisma.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (Accession No. 66.1.18): Byzantine square coin weight with incised denomination letter.
Dumbarton Oaks Collection (Washington D.C., Inv. No. BZ.1962.38): Byzantine square bronze 1-nomisma weight with incised N.
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