BILATERAL LETTER SCALE

bilateral letter scale

BILATERAL BRIEFWAAGE -this is German for bilateral letter scale- is engraved at back of the base of this old letter scale, perhaps to take away any possible doubts. Also there are two abbreviations at the top of the base. The first one reads: K.K. OEST. UNG. P. This means: Kaiserlich Königlich Österreichisches Ungarisches Patent. (Imperial Royal Austrian Hungarian Patent) Imperial relates to a limited period until 1918 (Ferdinand I, 1835-1848, Frans I, 1848-1916 and Karel I, 1916-1918). Royal relates to Hungary from 1867. The first Austrian stamp dates from 1850. This letter scale could be from between 1867 and 1918. But the character P of Patent limits the period possible even further. Hungarian patents started in 1896, Austrian patents started not until 1899. So, this letter scale dates from the period 1896-1918.

rear view of letter scale

fine plate

beautiful cut-outs

fine accentuating lines

The second abbreviation reads: D.R.P. A. This means: Deutsches Reich Patent Angemeldet. This is German meaning: German Empire Patent Applied for. In the literature, I have found only one photo of this letter scale (M&G pp.89). The information given is limited to: manufactured in Austria and the units of the scale are ounces, for the English market. The letter scale is made of easily corroding thin tin. The base is made strangely solid double-walled. Minimal traces indicate that originally a silver colored coating decorated this letter scale. The round plate has a fine pattern with accentuating lines and beautiful cut-outs. Also the base of the letter scale is fully ornamented.

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The unit on the chart of my letter scale is grams. The lower range is 0 up to 20 grams, the upper chart ranges from 20 grams up to 100 grams. Both charts have a division per gram. Only at the more modern bilateral scales the upper chart also starts at 0 grams. This type of double pendulum scale does not need a zero leveling screw. The chart is not easy readable. The lower chart has been broken at 10 grams. The repair was done poorly with a lot of soft solder. I completely removed this and replaced the connection by a strong hard soldered one. This was done with minimal adding of extra material.

K.K. OEST. UNG. P.	a lot of curlicues	D.R.P. A.
repair at 10 grams	BILATERAL BRIEFWAAGE	top rear view