Glass weight
Unknown Artist
Translucent pale yellow green.
Circular disk with rounded edge; impressed upper surface; flat bottom.
On obverse, stamp in low relief, comprising a cruciform monogram, encircled by a line.
Intact; dulling and pitting, with traces of brownish weathering.
The weight is stamped with a Greek monogram to guarantee its authenticity. Such small glass weights were used by the Byzantines and later by the Arabs to check the value of gold and silver coins. This example weighs the equivalent of a semissis (half of a solidus, the standard gold coin).
Credit: Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1881
6th–early 7th century A.D.
Glass; stamped
2.1 x 0.3cm
81.10.148
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018
Where you'll find this
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection