Lead and gilt copper-alloy, 105 grams, 32.81 mm. Circa 9th-11th century AD. An elliptical Anglo-Scandinavian lead weight into the upper surface of which has been impressed a rectangular fragment of chip-carved Anglo-Saxon metalwork. The weight was probably produced in England, re-using a fragment of an Anglo-Saxon metalwork, perhaps a book-mount, bearing a complex knotwork design and with much of the gilding still intact. Knotwork of a closely similar layout with offset knots occurs in ecclesiastical contexts, e.g. on the 10th century cross-shaft from Bishops Waltham now in the Winchester Museum. The present piece is an excellent example of the 'embedded-metalwork' form of weight and is equivalent to four øre in the later Viking scale devised by Brøgger. Reference: Kruse, S. Trade and Exchange Across Frontiers in Graham-Campbell, J. & Williams, G. (eds.) Silver Economy in the Viking Age, Walnut Creek, 2007 and Tweddle, D., Biddle, M. & Kjølbye-Biddle, B. Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Sculpture, vol. IV: South-East England, Oxford, 1995, p.250 and pl.422. Published: Hammond, Brett. British Artefacts, volume 2 - Middle Saxon & Viking, Witham, 2010. Extremely fine condition. Provenance: found North East England.