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 Replies: 13 / Views: 348 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1182 Posts |
I pulled this from a bulk bin at a glance of the date and fell down an interesting rabbit hole of weights and measures. It still weighs in at 20 grains  For those who were as unaware of the scruple as I was: 1 grain = 1/20 scruple = 0.0648 grams 20 grains = 1 scruple = 1.296 grams 3 scruples = 1 dram = 3.888 grams 480 grains = 24 scruples = 8 drams = 1 troy ounce = 31.1 grams And the troy ounce suddenly makes sense to me   Edit: For "confusion" from another perspective: 437.5 grains = 21.88 scruples = 7.29 drams = 1 oz = 28.35 grams Edited by MintedNotPrinted
02/14/2026 01:05 am
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Moderator
 United States
34393 Posts |
That is fascinating @mint! On numista, it talks about the central legend being in Cyrillic. Did you find out anything about that down in the rabbit hole?
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Moderator
Australia
16805 Posts |
It's not actually Cyrillic, it's just the symbol used for that unit, like "$" is the symbol for dollars, and "g" is for grams, that backwards-E symbol is alchemist's shorthand for "scruples". The "j" is an overly elaborate roman numeral "1", so backwards-E-j means "one scruple". Backwards-E-i-j would mean "two scruples", and so on, though with there being 3 scruples to the dram, you'd never need to count more than 3 scruples.
The origin of the backwards-E symbol seems to be lost to time. It is known that Dark Age alchemists used the symbol as shorthand for the Roman unit of weight, the scrupulum, from which both the scruple unit and the name both derive.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5029 Posts |
Apothecary collectibles are a very interesting rabbit hole you can fall into and never find you way back. Nice example.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
24872 Posts |
Thank you for the information, MintedNotPrinted! I have a few of these that came in a lot but I've never done much with them.
Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1182 Posts |
Spence, Sap, scopru, thank you & you're welcome Hondo.
scopru, definitely, I have to admit I'll be on the lookout for a set of apothecary scales at antique shows this year.
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Moderator
United States
94614 Posts |
I like it! pretty cool token? coin?  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
73575 Posts |
Interesting acquisition.  Errers and Varietys.
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Moderator
United States
34393 Posts |
Thx @sap for helping me learn something today!
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1182 Posts |
Dearborn, Errers, thank you and indeed - not numismatic or even really exonumia, but sort of in the realm adjacent. If it were not a coin shaped type that I had purchased with coins, I'd have not posted it. On that note, I do apologize to the moderators if this was a stretch. Agreed Spence, thank you for the additional context, Sap |
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Moderator
Australia
16805 Posts |
Apothecary weights definitely qualify as "exonumia". They qualify as they are not only "coin-like" in appearance (being round flat and made of metal), but also by method of manufacture (struck between two dies).
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1182 Posts |
Sap, I thank you once more for the correction. I suppose I'm caught up in the semantics relative to apothecary weights which are not in coin form, as opposed to this example |
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
Very interesting! |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
82 Posts |
W & T A = William & Thomas Avery, scale beam, steel yard, and weighing machine manufacturers, 12 Digbeth and Moat lane [Birmingham - the one in the UK!]
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Replies: 13 / Views: 348 |
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Posted 02/14/2026 07:12 am
