Coin weights Publique Deposited
- The small brass or copper weights equal to specific gold and silver coins of the world from the 1400s into the 1900s. The individual brass weights were made to match the weights of particular high-value gold coin denominations, with the coin type usually indicated in the design. They would be the lowest weight at which the coin remained legal tender. They could guard against clipped, worn or counterfeit coins of many foreign coins such as ducats, florins and louis d'or in the late 1600s. Molded pieces of glass, with inscriptions noting the correct weights of the coins represented were also used. These may have been considered more reliable than their metal counterparts, because it would be easier to see if someone had altered one. Egyptian glass weights and tokens date about 700-1100 CE. Ponderales are collected like coins.
- Numiscadero Spanish to English Glossary (Gary Beals)