Images(2)

Boxed Coin Scale and Weight Set

Date1750-1784

Retailed by Joseph Richardson, Sr. (1711-1784)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and England

MediumWood, iron/steel, brass, cloth, string, and paper

DimensionsBox: OL: 8 1/8” OD: 4” OH: 1 3/8”
Balance OL: 7 1/4” OH: 3 1/8”
Pans: Diameter: 2 ¼”

9 dwt weight OL: 1.3 cm OW: 1.2 cm
6 dwt weight OL: 1 cm OW: 1 cm
4 dwt weight OL: 0.9 cm OW: 0.8 cm
3 dwt weight OL: 0.8 cm OW: 0.7 cm
2 dwt weight OL: 0.4 cm OW: 0.6 cm
1 dwt weight OL: 0.3 cm OW: 0.4 cm

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2014-19,A-H

DescriptionImported boxed set of gold and silver scales including an iron/steel balance (B) supporting two string-hung brass pans with light circular chasing and brass weights (C-H) marked in terms of pennyweights (dwt). The wooden box (A) is closed by an iron s-shaped clasp with grips. The interior of the box is partitioned and lined with green felt. A printed table for calculating the weight and value of foreign coins “as they pass in Pennsylvania” is pasted to the underside of the lid. Weights included in the set are: 9 dwt, 6 dwt, 4 dwt, 3 dwt, 2 dwt, 1 dwt.

A) Box
B) Pans & Balance
C-H) 6 WeightsLabel TextBefore the Coinage Act of 1792, there was no uniform or regulated system of currency in the American colonies. European gold and silver coins of many differents sorts, were all accepted as legal tender, though at different values in different colonies. Consequently, coin scales and charts were used to determine the value of such coins in a particular colony.

Prominent Philadelphia silversmith, Joseph Richardson, imported this boxed coin scale set from England. The brass weights bear the stamp of the English Assay Office, a lion passant, along with their weight in pennyweights (dwt). Despite its English manufacture, pasted on the underside of the box lid is Richardson’s label detailing the most common gold and silver coins then circulating in Pennsylvania. Given its transatlantic history, this coin scale set tells the story of the increasingly independent American colonies and their role in the global economy of the eighteenth century.
Mark(s)Each brass weight is stamped with a lion passantProvenanceFrom the John J. Ford, Jr., collection. Earlier purchased from H.J. Forman, November 16, 1970.