Cast Lead Weight
The specific properties of this weight would have made it ideal for mobile trade. Because this weight is composed almost entirely of lead, and lead is one of the heaviest common metals, this weight would have been the more compact than most metals, and thus would have been better for travel than a lighter, more spacious material. In addition, the weight measures exactly 19.55 grams, meaning that it would have most likely been used in the bullion system.[2] The weight would have been four units of approximately 4.5 grams in the bullion system. This seems likely as the weight is estimated to have been used from 850 to 1000 CE, which is exactly in the middle of the Viking Age.
This weight’s most unique quality is its three slashes down the side. While it seems unlikely that they would represent any sort of weight purpose based on our analysis above, the scratches could perhaps have been used to measure the amount of hacksilver, rings, or bracelets being traded. An even more likely explanation is that this weight’s owner labeled his weights with these three slashes.
Thus, we can conclude that this weight could have been a Norse trader’s personal possession used to measure hacksilver against the English coins and complete a transaction in the early Viking Age in England.[3]
