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ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE WEIGHT
Authority
Mint
Denomination
Material
Copper alloy (bronze or brass)
Manufacture
Cast
Shape
Square
Length
6.50 cm
Width
6.70 cm
Height
1.80 cm
Metrology
Mass (g) Mass (grain) Date of measurement Reference fragmented cleaned reference weight
389.00 - - Auction Nomos 2021b No No Yes
Iconography
Symbol Technique Direction Position Number Synecdoche
Pig / Boar / Sow Relief LEFT One Head
Wear
Corrosion
Handle
No
Suspension hole
No
Recarved mould
No
Recarved weight
No
Intentionally destroyed
No
Archaeological description
Auction Nomos 2021b: ILLYRIA. Uncertain city. 4th-2nd century BC. Weight of 1 Mna (Bronze, 65x67x18 mm, 389.00 g, 12 h), an ingot-shaped bronze weight with an impressive high relief head of a boar. Head of a boar to left, with protruding ear. Rev. Blank. Tekin, Balance Weights, -. Rare and impressive. Beautifully made and with a fine, green patina. Light cleaning marks. Good very fine. From an old European collection acquired in the Illyrian district during a trip taken in 1990s. Exactly what weight this is meant to be is unclear: it is definitely light for an Attic mna (or mina). The shape is unusual, but it does reflect the oxhide shape of early ingots, and this may be somehow traditional. In Tekin's exhaustive survey there is nothing like it: the only piece that is of low weight like this one (in fact lower), comes from Alexandria Troas and, as Tekin points out, is clearly a modern forgery. The present piece is definitely genuine. The quality of the workmanship and the casting is very high: the definite find spot in Illyria, modern Albania, makes it unlikely that it comes from Lyttos in Crete, which used a boar's head as a city badge; or one of the cities of the Aegean or Asia Minor. Oxhide shaped mina weight.
Autopsy
No
INSCRIPTION
Language Technique Legend type
Fac simile
Edition
Monogram
ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
Findspot (region)
Findspot (site)
context
CIRCUMSTANCES OF ACQUISITION
Region
City
Date of first acquisition
Dec. 31, 1999
circumstances
Auction Nomos 2021b: From an old European collection acquired in the Illyrian district during a trip taken in 1990s.
DATING OF THE WEIGHT
Curatorial Section
GREEK
Time frame
FROM -400 TO -100
Comments on Chronology
COLLECTION HISTORY
Collection
Name Date of acquisition Inventory number
Antiquities Trade Nov. 30, 2021 None
Bibliography
Reference Page/Column Reference (number) Plate / Figure Comment
Auction Nomos 2021c None 95 None None
VARIA
Additional comment
Mint : Ilion ? Based on https://pondera.uclouvain.be/artifact/15589/ ?

To see the Alexandria Troas mina mentioned by Auction Nomos 2021b, see https://pondera.uclouvain.be/artifact/3172/.
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