Balance
name: label: maker
content: Kolb, Tobias Martin
notes: label: Description
content: Coin balance mounted on a wooden box. The beam has swan box ends that are made of iron. The drawer contains the weights and one smaller, handheld coin balance. There are 62 square tapered weights, 2 nested weights, and 13 fraction weights. The fraction weights fit into a recess with a hinged lid. A pair of forceps in the drawer (as well as a double-hooked hanger) is used to lift the weights on and off the balance pan. The drawer has carved recesses for the large and small balances. The weights are marked with the name of the coins with which they correspond.
label: Description
content: The Master sign on the inner surface of one pan is that of T.M. Kolb, who received his master degree in 1754. The mark is hearts, 3X, with TMK on top within a shield. Kolb was a scale maker and also an adjuster for scales and weights. The other pan has a coat of arms, probably that of Nuremberg.
label: Description
content: The small handheld balance has one round pan and one triangular pan, a common arrangement for coin balances. It has no maker marks. The pulley cord which lifts the pans into weighing position has a weight at the end in the shape of a lion, the symbol of Nuremberg. One of the nested weight sets is for weighing kronen and the other is for weighing ducats.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Germany: Bavaria, Nuremberg
topic: label: Subject
content: Pharmacy
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
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content: European Apothecary
label: See more items in
content: Art
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Urdang, George and Ferdinand William Nitardy. The Squibb Ancient Pharmacy: A Catalogue of the Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of American Pharmaceutical Association and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0664.0894
label: accession number
content: 1991.0664
label: catalog number
content: M-06290
label: collector/donor number
content: 982
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0664.0894
objectType: label: Object Name
content: balance
label: Object Name
content: balance, coin
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 1/2 in x 13 in x 10 in; 36.83 cm x 33.02 cm x 25.4 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 1/2 in x 13 in x 12 1/4 in; 36.83 cm x 33.02 cm x 31.115 cm