U.S. Standard Weights
date: label: date made
content: ca 1850
name: label: maker
content: United States Office of Weights and Measures
notes: label: Description
content: These cylindrical brass weights are part of a set of standards prepared by the United States government. They weigh one pound Troy, one pound, two pounds, three pounds, four pounds, five pounds, ten pounds, and twenty pounds. A knob at the top of each weight makes it easier to lift. The set also includes a weight lifter.
label: Description
content: All the knobs are stamped with an image of an American eagle. Those in this set, except for the Troy weight, are marked: 69. A mark on the knob for the Troy weight reads: 9.
label: Description
content: The weights fit into cavities in a velvet-lined wooden case. The amount of each weight is indicated on a paper tag attached to the base of the corresponding cavity.
label: Description
content: The United States government began distributing weights to the states in about 1845. When these weights were transferred to the Smithsonian from the Bureau of Standards in 1929, correspondence in the files suggests that they were of the type distributed before the Civil War.
label: Description
content: Reference:
label: Description
content: Accession File.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Chemistry
label: See more items in
content: Metric System
label: See more items in
content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Standards
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CH.309590
label: accession number
content: 103830
label: catalog number
content: 309590
objectType: label: Object Name
content: weight set
label: Object Type
content: Weights
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: 2 lb. weight: 2 1/16 in x 2 1/16 in; 5.23875 cm x 5.23875 cm
label: Measurements
content: 2 lb. weight knob: 5/8 in; 1.5875 cm
label: Measurements
content: troy weight: 1 1/2 in x 1 1/2 in; 3.81 cm x 3.81 cm
label: Measurements
content: 1 lb. weight knob: 7/16 in; 1.11125 cm
label: Measurements
content: troy weight knob: 1/2 in; 1.27 cm
label: Measurements
content: 1 lb. weight: 1 5/8 in x 1 5/8 in; 4.1275 cm x 4.1275 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall in case: 9 1/4 in x 11 1/8 in x 17 1/2 in; 23.495 cm x 28.2575 cm x 44.45 cm