Three Round Copper-Alloy Balance Weights with Crosses

Art Historical Context

These three small, round copper-alloy balance, each about the size of a modern coin, hail from the Byzantine Empire of the 8th–9th century. Adorned with incised crosses on their surfaces, they served a practical purpose in daily trade and commerce, ensuring fair measurements in bustling markets from Constantinople to provincial outposts. Crafted from durable copper alloy—a common medium for Byzantine metalwork—their modest dimensions (roughly 1/4 × 1 inch, 1 oz. each) highlight the ingenuity of everyday artisans who combined functionality with symbolic design. In the medieval Byzantine world,...