6th-12th century AD. A group of five round solid circular bronze weights, each showing on the face a value with the unit number for each nomisma (= solidus, the monetary unit of the Eastern Roman Empire) and a number. See Warmser, L., Die Welt von Byzanz - Europas Ostliches Erbe, München, 2004, p.365, nos.839-850. 686 grams total, 31-67mm (1 1/4 - 2 1/2"). Property of a Dutch gentleman; formerly in an old collection formed in the 1970s. Weights produced during this period were made in gold, silver, bronze, lead, glass, and stone. Surviving gold and silver weights are extremely rare. Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, was also seldom employed, which clearly reflects the loss of the tin-producing provinces in the west during the course of the fourth century AD. Most bronzes are actually either brass (copper and zinc) or gunmetal (copper, tin, and zinc), both of which can often be prefixed with the term 'leaded'. A large majority of Eastern Roman metal weights are made of these two alloys. [5]