# Coin weights

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An inscribed Islamic pound weight from 743. Made of glass, it is one of the oldest earliest Islamic dated objects in an American museum. In the collection of the [Walters Art Museum](/source/Walters_Art_Museum)

**Coin weights** are weights used to weigh precious-metal coins in order to assure they were not underweight (It is easy to shave a bit of metal off the edge of a silver or gold coin).[1]

The usage of coin weights, especially glass ones, goes back to [Ptolemaic](/source/History_of_Ptolemaic_Egypt) and [Byzantine](/source/Byzantine) times.[1] Coin weights were also known in [Ancient China](/source/History_of_China#Ancient_China).[2]

In [Islamic civilization](/source/Muslim_world), they are called *Sanadjāt*.[1] Up to that point coins were only compared to coins of good quality.[1] Islamic coin weights were made of bronze, iron, and later glass (considered to be unalterable).[1] They bear inscriptions related to Islamic rulers and moneyers and are therefore valuable [epigraphical](/source/Epigraphical) objects.[1]

Coins weights were also known in the [Carolingian Empire](/source/Carolingian_Empire), where they were stamped with regular coin dyes to clarify their attribution.[3] Islamic coin weights were introduced to [Great Britain](/source/Great_Britain) in the 9-10th century CE through the Vikings.[4]

## Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Arnold_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Arnold_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Arnold_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Arnold_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Arnold_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Arnold_1-5) [Arnold, T.W.](/source/T.W._Arnold) (1987). [Houtsma, M. Th](/source/M._Th_Houtsma) (ed.). [*E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936*](https://books.google.com/books?id=GpQ3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA195). [Brill](/source/Brill_(publisher)). p. 195. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789004082656](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789004082656).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Scheidel, Walter](/source/Walter_Scheidel) (5 February 2009). [*Rome and China: Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires*](https://books.google.com/books?id=aTdN3PWIvs0C&pg=PT144). [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press). p. 144. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780199714292](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780199714292).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Coupland, Simon (2007). [*Carolingian Coinage and the Vikings: Studies on Power and Trade in the 9th Century*](/source/Carolingian_Coinage_and_the_Vikings). [Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.](/source/Ashgate_Publishing%2C_Ltd.) p. 38. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780860789918](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780860789918).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Department of Coins and Medals"](https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/departments/coins_and_medals.aspx). *[British Museum](/source/British_Museum) exhibit*. [Trustees of the British Museum](/source/Trustees_of_the_British_Museum). Retrieved 3 August 2019.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Coin weights](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Coin_weights).

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