LETTER & PARCEL SCALE
from the period 1869 - 1875

this letter & parcel scale is from the period 1869-1875

This is an extremely rare balance from England for weighing letters and packages. The maker is unknown to me. Unfortunately, some things have been changed on the scale, probably to allow for disassembly for whatever reason. The brass of the pivot point at the front left has been sawn open and the same has happened at the pivot point at the rear right. The vertical ram on the right has been shortened. The central upright is raised by placing a hexagon nut between it and the base, and chiseling a recess in the wooden base for the mounting nut of the central upright. Despite these poorly implemented changes, it remains a very interesting letter scale with special features. The knife edge supports are made without steel bushings and the round holes are visibly worn. The shape of the vertical uprights under the weighing platforms is special. The securing of the lower levers with a ring is also special, these rings appear to be replacements. The bottom of the weighing platforms has a strange black coating,

back of the letter and parcel balance

the substance used is unclear. The wooden base stands on four wooden doughnut-shaped feet. There is a round recess in the front center of the base for a stack of weights. The weights of 1Lb (= 1 pound = 16 ounces), 8 oz (ounces), 4 oz, 1 oz, and ½ oz seem to belong originally to this balance. They are marked with a lion facing left, this mark was applied by the Assay Office of the Goldsmith Hall. [EQM pp 45 and EQM pp 499-500]. The weights of 2 oz and ¼ oz are probably replacement copies to complete the weight set again. Very special are the two weights of ⅓ oz and ⅔ oz. These weights are stored on their sides in the two slots on the left. These two weights are not marked with a lion looking to the left. These weights were used to weigh letters to France (and also Algeria, Turkey, Smyrna and Dardanelles) in the very short period from 1869 to 1875. The establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 put an end to the use of these separate letter post weight limits [EQM pp 353-354].
The 1978 summer issue of Equilibrium, has on pp 36-37 the article The Scale in Question by D.F. Crawforth. In that article this scale, without the weights, is drawn and described. The copy shown here on this web page, provides clear answers to a few questions posed in the article. The central recess is for a 1 Lb weight, and the two slots are intended to store the special weights of ⅓ oz and ⅔ oz. Below are many more images of these rare English letters & parcel scale from the short period 1869 - 1875.

side view

animation: place all weights in the recesses [move the pointer over the photo]

side view

the brass bearing at the rear right has been sawn open	the main pivot point is clearly worn	the bearing at the rear left is also worn
a small ring holds the bottom lever in place	at the front left the brass bearing has also been sawn open	the retaining rings appear to be replacements
the bottoms of the plateaus have a strange black layer	the bottom with 4 donut-shaped feet and the chiseled recess for the mounting nut of the central upright	the scale parts are large and sturdy
both special weights stored in their slot	the special flat weights of ⅓ oz and ⅔ oz	the balance complete with the weights
the ⅓ oz weight	the smooth backs have a beveled edge	the ⅔ oz weight
the wooden base is partly weathered	the scale with all weights in place	all weights laid out in front of the scale
the drawing from the article in Equilibrium of summer 1978	the scale with the article in the background	the scale in question in the picture
front of the balance balans	the wooden base has become somewhat weathered	back of the balance
the topsides of the nine weights	the nested weights and the two special weights	the bottoms of the nine weights
a lion looking to the left, this mark is from the Assay Office of the Goldsmith Hall in London	the stacked weights	a lion looking to the left, this mark is from the Assay Office of the Goldsmith Hall in London
the 1 Lb weight with two lion marks	the weight of 8 ounces with two lion marks	the weight of 4 ounces with two lion marks
the Avery weight of 2 ounces is a replacement	the weight of 1 ounce with two lion marks	the weight of ½ ounce also has two lion marks

the weight of ¼ ounce is also a replacement copy