ROMAN MINIATURE OBJECT

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Miniature silver sword. The blade is straight sided for most of its length before curving inwards to the point. The edges on both faces are bevelled. The rectangular hilt guard, handle and rectangular pommel are flat sectioned. There are two circular piercings, one through the hilt guard and one through the top of blade, probably for rivets rather than suspension. The sword is now slightly bent at the top of the blade. Similar miniature copper alloy and iron swords or daggers as votive objects are discussed by Bagnall Smith (2007). Roman, mid 1st - possibly 3rd century.Length 47.5mm. Width of blade at maximum 6.5mm, width of hilt guard 8.5mm, width of pommel 8mm. Thickness 2mm. Weight 2.42g.