SCALES, Postal

Small brass postal scale consisting of a raised base cut to form four feet at the corners. This supports a 5 cm high frame containing a simple spring mechanism at the back, and at the front, an arced plate with curved edges to hold the graduated measure card. At the top, this card is lettered "POSTAL SCALE / CRITERION / TRADE MARK / WEIGHTS" and has two identical columns on each side of the long, narrow slit at the centre through which the pointer can move up or down to indicate a weight marked on the card. The columns are marked "OZ" and "LB" and are graduated in half ounces and numbered from one to sixteen (one pound). Where the protective surface has lifted taking the markings with it, graduations and numbers have been pencilled in. There is a slightly domed circular plate on top to hold letters being weighed. Scales were used by Mrs Winifred Prynn-Jones to weigh letters. She and her husband sailed from England in the 1890s and settled on the goldfields where Benjamin was an Inspector of Mines. Two children were born there and a third at Perth. For further details see H90.344

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History Collection

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