The Blanchard House Blog

Object Id #2001.077.1a-c

This week’s object is a brass and iron banker’s balance scale with a complete set of weights, formerly used by Andover Bank, just down the street from the the Historical Society. The Andover Bank made a gift of the set in 2001. The cast iron base is painted red and gold with handles on each end and two opposing birds with beaks in the middle for exact balance point. The brass scale bar has three calibrations:

• 0-200 gold
• 0-100 = 1 oz
• 0-13 in 1/4″ increments marked “sub”

The two brass pans have rolled lips and are 2″ high and the diameter of each is 13.75″ across. The scales is marked with the tag ” Henry Troemner, Maker, Philadelphia, PA Cap 45 lbs. no 187″

According to the Troemner website, Henry Troemner founded Troemner over 160 years ago in 1838. The company started as a manufacturer of scales and weights in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From the beginning, Troemner earned a reputation for being a manufacturer with high quality standards. In 1856, Troemner received a contract to make scales for the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. The success of this contract led the company to expand its product line of scales to include bankers’ scales, precision weighing equipment for jewelers, prescription scales for pharmacists, and laboratory scales and balances for chemists.

By the time of Henry Troemner’s death in 1873, the Troemner name had become internationally respected in the commercial world of weights and balances. The company was inherited by Henry Troemner’s sons and remained a family business for three generations until 1955.

The scale and weights shown here are dated 1850-1900, but we hope further research will narrow those dates in the future. Organized in 1834, the Andover Bank was located on Main Street. Eventually purchased by Fleet and then Bank of America, one of Andover’s oldest banking institutions still has a home in downtown Andover. Balance scales were more commonly used at banks in the early 20th century and earlier, when it was more likely customers were carrying non-paper currency such as gold or silver coin. By using a balance scale, a customer (and the bank) could learn the precise weight and value of non-standardized coins or objects.

From the Wikipedia website – The balance scale was the first mass measuring instrument invented, In its traditional form, it consists of a pivoted horizontal lever of equal length arms, called the beam, with a weighing pan, suspended from each arm (which is the origin of the originally plural term “scales” for a weighing instrument). The unknown mass is placed in one pan, and standard masses are added to the other pan until the beam is as close to equilibrium as possible. In precision balances, a slider mass is moved along a graduated scale. The slider position gives a fine correction to the mass value. Although a balance technically compares weights, not masses, the weight of an object is proportional to its mass, and the standard weights used with balances are usually labeled in mass units.

Object ID#2001.077.2a-k

The Andover Bank also gifted this set of Troy weights with the scale.  Troy weight is a system of mass units typically used for the measuring of precious metals. Named for its used in medieval France at the fairs in Troyes, this standardized system has been in use for hundreds of years. The maker of these weights is assumed to Henry Troemner, although the weights are marked with the initials LA and their weight plus troy. The knobbed weights are made of brass in the following weights:

• 200 oz (2 weights measuring 10cm x 10cm each)
• 100 oz (1 weight measuring 8cm x 8cm)
• 50 oz (1 weight measuring 6cm x 6cm)
• 20 oz (2 weights measuring 5cm x 5cm each)
• 10 oz (1 weight measuring 4cm x 4cm)
• 5 oz (1 weight measuring 3cm x 3cm)
• 2 oz (2 weights measuring 2cm x 2cm each)
• 1 oz (1 weight measuring 1.5cm x 1.5cm)

It’s hard to imagine the more slow-paced visits to a bank in the past. However, if you needed to have your precious metals weighed and possibly converted to paper currency or deposited to add to your account, wouldn’t you be glad that such precision was being used?