Age of Cast Iron Counter Scale?

[talesofthesevenseas]

I just picked up a neat old cast iron scale. The only markings on it are a number 4 on the center column, no mfg. info and no patent date or other marks. This is a counter scale, meant to sit on the countertop of a store. It's a roverbal scale and this one can weigh from zero to 15 pounds by moving the pendulum weight along the front of the scale and by adding the 1 oz to 2 lb weights in various combinations on the platform. The pan and weight bar on the front are brass.

The seller guesstimated it to be 1880's which seems about right to me, but it would be nice if it could be positively identified, so far I haven't found a match for it online, it is tough without knowing the manufacturer. Below are the seller's pics. I'll take some additional ones tonight after polishing the pan and removing the rust from the weights. It looks great sitting on the coffee bin, like they belong together. Lately I've been having fun trying recipes from antique cookbooks and many of the old ones are given in weights, rather than modern measurements. So I will be putting this one to good use. It was a tiny bit light on the pan side, which I resolved by adding three dimes to it, which put it back into perfect balance when empty.

Here is the scale:














Here are the weights that came with it:

[waywardangler]

I think the time frame of 1880s-1900 is a good one. I have seen scales like this with more original paint and striping on them and I think they also had a decal. I am more familiar with postal scales of this type. I had one in my office before I retired that had a metal plate attached by 2 screws or rivets. Are there any small holes anywhere on the base sides of this scale, Tales? Yours could be an old hardware or general store scale with that removable pan. I would lean toward hardware store (or maybe a meat market) where the pan would weigh nails or bolts (or meat). That is a lot of extra weights for a counterbalance on a general store counter when the pan is not real large.

[talesofthesevenseas]

A hardware scale makes sense. 15 lbs is a lot of weight for such a small scale, so I think you are probably right it would have to be something like nails. 15 lbs of flour, coffee or other dry goods would be larger than the pan. Most of the scale I saw online similar to this one only went up to 6 lbs.

I didn't see any holes as if it had a plate attached at one time, but I will look for that when I get home tonight.

[mart]

I think hardware/general store as well !!  Back when nails came in barrels !! Hasn`t been too long since we had one like that !!  Masons Hardware may still weigh nails !!  Have to check that !!

[talesofthesevenseas]

I can easily remember buying nails by weight as late as the 1960's. The scales were hanging ones like we use for produce now, but you scooped the nails out of metal bins, some of which were down at kid-level and an endless source of fascination as I recall! I also remember buying candy by weight in the 1960's. I remember pocket change used to get us quite a mountain of candy! They used a platform scale as I recall for the candy, similar to a butcher's scale.

[KC]

Remember those well Talesof!  Loved going to the hardware store and playing with the revolving nail bins as a kid - was selling that way as late as 1969 in my hometown.

[hosman321]

I have a cast iron Force (company) scale, I love them. Yours is very cool. I think the time frame is right, that's when most of them were made. Wonder if we can identify it just by the number "4."

[hosman321]

Oh, the 4 is just the weight (4 kilograms), I believe.

[talesofthesevenseas]

I think the #4 will turn out to be a model number. The scale measures in pounds and ounces and I don't think people were too concerned with metric units of measure in the US at that time. The scale itself weighs more than 4 Kg (2.2 lbs), I'll have to check its exact weight, and it measures up to 15lbs, more if you add weights on the platform.

[waywardangler]

I am with Tales on '4' being a model number or just the number that denotes the size of the scale. I am sure they had smaller scales like a model 1 or size 1 and larger ones also. Maybe an old Sears catalog copy (repro) would have different size scales in it for comparison.

[hosman321]

I beg to differ on this one. I may be wrong though. Force scales (the most common scales from this period) were French, and measured in kilos. The weights were often lost (imagine trying to keep all those little things with the scale for over 100 years) and could be replacements. Mine only has 3 weights, I think.

http://cgi.ebay.com/19thC-Antique-Victorian-French-FORCE-15-Kilo-SCALES-/220773145000?pt=UK_Collectable_ToolsHasdware_RL&hash=item33671ad9a8

http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-FORCE-CAST-IRON-500-GR-FRENCH-SCALE-WEIGHTS-/390307979809?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ae02b2221

[waywardangler]

This type of scale was referred to as a Grocer's Even Balance Trip Scale and the 4 denoted this as a No. 4. The brass pan was more $ than a tin pan. It does not look like a Howe's or a Fairbanks but there are some Fairbanks on this site http://www.fairbanks.com/literature/Antique_Scales.pdf  Your scale, Tales, resembles example 44.  I am not sure if there should be a porcelain/brass/steel plate on the right side over that cast iron pan that is there now. That lip around the edge leads me to think there should be a plate sitting on top. Do the two sides balance out as is? If the brass pan side drops down then there would have been a plate on top of the cast iron plate on the right side. I think the front beam measures in ounces (16) and is graduated in 1/4 ounce units? I do not think the largest weights are for this scale. They appear to be of a different manufacturer. I think the ones numbered 1,2,4 and 8 are one set and would let this scale weigh up to 16 lbs. That makes sense with the listings for this type of scale in my 1918 hardware catalog.

[talesofthesevenseas]

#44 (which is Fairbanks model #2) does look a whole lot like my scale? I double checked a few things-

The bar that the pendulum weight is on is marked "lb" at the end so it definitely USA measures, but one BIG correction. A bit of experimenation weighing things tonight quickly taught me that the 0-15 bar on the front, which ends in lb, are ounces, and they total up to one pound. Sorry for the misinformation above. So looks like it's a grocers scale... I think!

There are no holes like it ever had a mounting plate. Probably a long-gone sticker.

With the pendulum weight at the far left of the bar at zero, the scale almost balances perfectly. It is a tiny bit light on the pan side. I put three dimes under the pan and now it balances out perfectly. It probably needs to be calibrated.

The pan and weights cleaned up really nice:

[KC]

Bet it was for a candy!  Yum!

[mart]

Oh !! Its tiny !!  Looking at the pics I thought a larger model !!  I will go with KC on this,, Would be right at home on a candy counter !!