Byzantine NE AE Square 21.3g Coin Weight

[pogh_poor]

I recently purchased this Byzantine square coin weight with NE on the obverse.  It weighs approximately 21.3g.  It measures approximately 25.61 mm by 26.69 mm by 3.9 mm.  I know very little about coin weights.  Is this a 5-nomismata commercial weight?  What is its approximate age?  I would appreciate any insight into this interesting weight.  Pogh_poor
 

[wileyc]

    Yes a five Nomisma weight E=5 nomisma of 4.26g each.

   As far as dates, Chris Entwistle with the British Museum 2008 in Late Roman and Byzantine Weights and Weighing Equipment wrote that flat weights in a square seem to be the main type in the 5th and 6th century, in the 7th century weights in the form of flat discs became the prominent types. He documents a number on archeological sites with these consistencies. I have read similar dates elsewhere.
       
  Before the 5/6th c the predominant roman/byzantine weight shape was a flattened sphere but produced up through the 6th c.

  It is a Byzantine coin weight, not a commercial weight.



cw

[pogh_poor]

Thank you for the helpful information about this interesting Byzantine coin weight.  Pogh_poor