Loth letter scale by Parnell
This letter scale is also referred to as "gooseneck", the similarity with the neck of a goose is obvious. The original is a letter scale design made by Nathaniel Richard Hall, on which a British patent No. 791 was granted already in 1863 (source: Equilibrium, winter 1979/80, Patently interesting, by Michael A. Crawforth, pp. 198-199). The letter scale shown here was sold by Parnell from London. I don't know whether Parnell was the maker. The name and location are engraved on the scale. The font used is clearly different from the graceful one used for the word Loth. The unit of measure on this letter scale is rare, the scale measures in Loth. The capacity is 4 Loth. Each Loth has a stripe of measure and in addition, the value ½ Loth also has a stripe. The Loth was used in the former German federal states and cities, like Bayern, Braunschweig, Bremen, Hamburg, Hanover, Heligoland, Lübeck, Mecklenburg, Prussia, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, and Württemberg. First the Loth was equal to 15 5/8 grams (4 Loth = 62.5 grams) and was used from 1849 in postal rate limits. Later after 1861 the so-called Deutsche Zollvereins-Loth this was equal to 16 2/3 grams, (4 Loth = 66.7 gram). After January 1, 1872 the Loth was replaced by the Gramm in postal rates. Before 1856 in Prussia 1 Loth equals 14.606 grams, and 4 Loth = 58.4 grams. I made a trial with weights and it proved this letter scale is based on the Loth equal to 14.6 grams: with 59 grams the pointer just passes the mark at 4 Loth. Therefore this letter scale is likely to date back to the period 1849-1856. This seems to conflict with the patent year 1863. Perhaps that patent was obtained late and there were already a lot of letter scales of this model in circulation? Who knows better?
This Loth letter scale has exactly the same dimensions as this previously shown letter scale which measures in grams. The body measures 105 millimeters, the diameter is 54.6 millimeters, the plate thickness is 0.8 millimeters.
Below some more pictures of this Loth letter scale made by Parnell from London.
back of the letter scale
