A recent purchase is a 2 ounce bronze weight with an
inscription. The inscription is either V or C. I suspect the weight had other
inscriptions, but environmental damage, over cleaning and a layer of laquer
added after cleaning keeps me from seeing other letters.
Roman two ounce bronze commercial weight with some of the
original silver inlay. The size is correct for a 2 ounce weight (52.0 g; 22.9 X
17.1 mm). I can see what looks like a V. The rest of the inscription, if there
was one, is missing. Based on the weights shown below, I would expect a legend
that includes 2 to 4 of the letters: VNCIA (VN, VNCI, etc.) and a Roman number
2 – II.
The seller calls the inscription a C. Bruno Kisch in Scales and Weights, describes weights
from the Temple of Castor in Rome. The temple housed sets of standard weights.
They had inscriptions: CASTO, CAST, CAS, CA, etc. The letter on my weight could
be a C, but it looks more like a V to me.
The pictures below were taken with different cameras and light sources in an attempt to see an inscription. I could not see any more in hand with a loop.
Computer microscope
Nikon P900 camera
Seller’s pic
Pictures of I, II, III and IV VNCIA weights are below.
2 VN weight from Brit
Museum
3 VNCI weight, rrd collection
6 VNCIA weight, rrd
collection
Two 2 ounce weights
from CNG
Two 1 ounce weights
from rrd collection
Five 2 ounce weights from rrd collection.
