Ancient scales for coins
Scales for coins were necessary to determine the authenticity of gold and silver money. Their appearance goes back to the distant past, to the time of the monetary system creation. Such scales, as a rule, were distinguished by the small size and fairly high accuracy. The most popular types were equal-arm beam balances with hanging pans, and later appeared, the so-called swing scales with special slots for coins. Photographs of antique scales for coins are presented in this section.
Scales for coins were necessary to determine the authenticity of gold and silver money. Their appearance goes back to the distant past, to the time of the monetary system creation. Such scales, as a rule, were distinguished by the small size and fairly high accuracy. The most popular types were equal-arm beam balances with hanging pans, and later appeared, the so-called swing scales with special slots for coins. Photographs of antique scales for coins are presented in this section.
Beam balance in a case with a set of weights. Prussia, 1787.
Scales with a foldable mechanism for checking the quality of guineas. England, the first half of the 19th century.
Scales for checking the quality of sovereigns. England, the middle of the 19th century.
Beam balance in a case with a set of weights. Presumably France, the end of the 18th-early 19th century.
Scales for checking the quality of coins in denomination of 20, 10, 5, 2.5 и 1 US dollar, the second half of the 19th century.
Scales for checking the quality of US dollars. USA, the second half of the 19th century.
Scales for checking the quality of English sovereigns, in a case. England, the 19th century.
Scales of the Byzantine type with a fixed counterweight.
Balance for coins in a wooden case. Spain, XVIII century.
Balance for coins with a set of weights, in an oval case. France, the first half of the XIX century.