WEIGHT

A copper-alloy cup-shaped weight of Medieval date.

The diameter of the artefact gradually increases towards the top, where there is a flat rim decorated with a series of closely-spaced ring-and-dot punchmarks. The flat underside and straight sides exhibit numerous file marks, while the inner surfaces are less regular in form. Approximately halfway down the side there is a circular perforation, the diameter of which increases towards the inner face of the cup.

Dimensions: 36mm diameter at top, tapering to 31mm at base; 15.7mm high; 3.4mm thick; weight: 55.97g.

This piece would have originally been part of a set of cup-shaped weights which would have 'nested' within each other and been contained within a box of similar form. Such a box, containing a very similar weight to the one recorded here, was found in excavations in Salisbury (Algar and Egan in Saunders ed. 2001: 125/fig. 43, no. 28). Other excavated parallels include three weights from Winchester (Biddle 1990: 921-922/fig. 282, nos. 3197-3199) and from London (Egan 1998: 309-310/fig. 230, no. 976). At 55.97g, this piece is approximately 1.4% light for a two ounce weight of the averdepois system and 4.2% light under the earlier Tower weight system; this discrepancy may be due to the hole, which is not seen on any of the aforementioned examples and may be a later adaptation, the purpose of which is now unclear. The suggested date for this piece, based on a consideration of its weight and the dating of excavated examples, is 12th to 15th century.