**First Time At Auction**

Northwestern Europe, England, Liverpool, ca. late 18th to early 19th century CE. A miniature travel-sized brass currency scale for weighing guineas, made by A. Wilkinson. This is a fine pocket-sized device - the slender rectangular case is integral to the piece - when opened the scale unfolds upward, the case forming a base, and the interior lid contains a printed paper with instructions for use. The coin is placed onto the dangling plate that connects to the beam with an H-shaped frame. This load arm has the numbers and sliding gauge and the other half of the beam has a hinged rectangular weight that moves to counter poise the beam for either guineas or half-guineas. All pieces articulate and self-erect as designed, and the original instructions are mostly legible! Such scales were a convenient solution to identifying counterfeit coins and most merchants used these in their shops. Size of case folded: 5" L x 0.75" W x 0.25" H (12.7 cm x 1.9 cm x 0.6 cm); erect: 9.75" L x 0.75" W x 2.75" H (24.8 cm x 1.9 cm x 7 cm)

Anthony Wilkinson is accredited as the inventor of this type of pocket scale, with records indicating he worked at a Kirkby Liverpool address from about 1774 to 1785, until he moved to Ormskirk where he was active until 1801.

Provenance: private Southern California collection, California, USA, acquired through descent 2006; ex-private California collection, USA, before 2000

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#168137

Scale unfolds and parts articulate as intended. Minor wear and patina, some bending and indentations, but otherwise intact and very good! Some staining and tearing to paper instructions making a few areas illegible, but most is intact!