Post Office Scales
Post Office weighing scales with a selection of weights from 1/4 oz - 8 oz.
Name/Title
Post Office ScalesEntry/Object ID
2025.1.176Description
Brass scales on wooden stand including 6 weights: 1 x 8 oz (ounce); 1 x 4 oz; 1 x 2 oz; 1 x 1 oz; 1 x 1/2 oz; 1 x 1/4 oz. The inscription on the weighing plate says: INLAND LETTER POST/ NOT EXCEEDING 4 OZ 1d/ EACH ADDITIONAL 2 ozs 1/2d INDIA & COLONIES (with few exceptions) 1d per 1/2oz POSTAL UNIONM 21/2d per 1/2 ozContext
These scales are made by the firm of S Morden and Co, London circa 1870. British silversmith and co-inventor of the first patented machine pencil, Sampson Morden was apprenticed to the locksmith Joseph Bramah during his youth. Bramah was the inventor of the elastic ink reservoir for fountain pens! Mordens' sons, Sampson Junior and Augustus inherited the business, after Morden's death in 1843 and made silver and brass postal scales until 1941, when the factory was destroyed by the blitz. This type of scale is known as a Roberval scale, invented in 1669, by the French mathematician Gilles Personne de Roberval. It is distinguished by its parallelogram linkage which keeps the weighing pans level, making the weighing result independent of the load's position on the pan. This mechanism ensures that the center of gravity remains in place even as the pans tilt, providing a stable and practical device for commercial weighing.Category
Business