As soon as man organized himself into societies, he began to engage in trade and commerce. Business requires standard weights and measures, a means of determining quantity and value, and these were among the earliest inventions of civilization. Though these standards varied greatly throughout the ancient world, they tended to be uniform within kingdoms and empires. This unusual bronze weight dates to the early flowering of Christian Byzantium. It was most likely used by a jeweler to calculate the value of precious metals and gems. It is engraved with a cross, encircled with a wreath, and flanked on either side by letters. This may be the monogram of the ruling monarch, or perhaps of the jeweler to whom it belonged. As we hold it in our hands, we are reminded of those who held it long ago in a vanished world.