"Carl Honore writing about English cartwheels being used as weights in your E-Sylum v3#46 reminded me of a recent purchase. In my area of Southeast Asia, many denominations were also weights. For example, the old Thai Baht (Tical) coin equals the weight of the same name and could be used on a scale in a marketplaces. But there were also many weights made in each country of the region with designs unique to each country. Many of the older weights are very difficult to locate, even in references.

When in Bangkok this past May, I found five or six old Lao weights in a junk/gift store. I was very calm on the outside, but after I paid for them, I was jumping up and down. The store owner definitely thought I was crazy, but I just could not help expressing my happiness after finding the first old Lao weights for my collection."