That's... that's a lot of work. In the days before its manufacture could be even partially automated, a lot of skilled labor went into every single foot of chain. A heavy chain like that could not have been inexpensive.
I don't know how much chain a good smith could turn out in a day, but there's gotta be nearly as much work in six or eight feet of chain as there is in a half-decent sword (if not more), and I know those weren't cheap.
(Shot these photos on Wednesday morning with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and the EF 70-200mm f/4L IS.)
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