A decision on the copper weight should be judged by what happens at the assay table in the Lower Market Hall. The docket is at step 4 of the current review. Its latest entry reads: Residents and workers have had their first chance to question the measure in public. A rule that looks complete in the chamber can still leave the people who use it carrying an unmeasured cost.
22 bars checked against the common weight were entered this cycle, compared with 19 in the prior file. That comparison matters because the public summary counts entries. The open question is whether the market should replace one shared standard or allow each guild to keep a certified weight.
Guilds say one standard hides differences in bar shape; buyers say multiple standards make a fair comparison harder. The current record does not settle that disagreement. The objection deserves a direct answer, but it is not a reason to make the rule permanent before the affected residents can check the method.
Nima Thol checked the assay slips, stamped weights and the merchants’ challenge book against the field notes. The method is to put the posted price beside the amount that actually changed hands; it confirms the entries, but not every interpretation attached to them. The practical evidence is a shallow notch on the old standard weight where a maker’s mark has worn smooth; any new measure should record that condition beside the total.
The chamber should approve a limited trial with a published end date, a way to record exceptions and a named reviewer. The assay table will test both systems against the same set of bars. That is the narrowest decision that can be defended from the evidence now available.
