Coin scale and weights

1709-1745

Measurements

1 in x 6 3/8 in x 2 1/2 in

Materials

Brass, steel, probably pear or another fruitwood

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.977

Inscription

"PS” within a shield is stamped into three weights; a slightly larger “PS” within a square is in another weight; “T.P” below a star and all within a diamond is stamped into a weight; “GP” within a heart is stamped into a sixth weight. “William Corbit born 1762 / Daniel Corbit born 1796 / Mary C Corbit born 1848 / John Warner born 1884” is written in ink on the inside of the lid. Numbers, letters, and circles stamped into the weights denote values or weight (see text below).

Provenance

The Corbit family names written on the lid trace ownership from William Corbit to his great grandson John Warner, son of Mary Cowgill Corbit Warner. John died without issue in 1911, at which time Mary probably repossessed the scale for The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Comments

This coin or gold scale enabled its owner to weight coins, which came in a variety of denominations.  An assortment of counterweights, each marked with its weight and touchmark of its maker, allowed the user to calculate the silver or gold weight.  Published coinage tables converted weights to values.  The weights accompanying this scale include ones made by Philadelphians Peter Stretch (1670–1746), George Plumly (1680–1754), and Thomas Paschall Sr. (1634–1718), each of whom was licensed by the City of Philadelphia to provide these important weights.  The decorative stamps used on the wood case are similar to those found on contemporary leather book covers.

Bibliography

Donald L. Fennimore and Frank L. Hohmann III, Stretch: America’s First Family of Clockmakers (Winterthur, Del.: Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 2013), 51-52.

Zimmerman, A Storied Past, 240-242.