Nice Addition To My Coin Collecting Tools

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Author	Replies: 11 / Views: 3,413
Ed_B Pillar of the Community United States 4008 Posts	Posted 01/19/2012 7:50 pm I stopped by Harbor Freight the other day and looked at the electronic scales they had. I found one there that is quite handy for coin and bullion collectors. Here is a pic of the little fellow: I really like the fact that it can weigh in grams, Av. ounces, penny weight, and Troy ounces. It is small too, barely larger than a pack of smokes, so it is very portable and can easily be taken on coin buying trips in a shirt or jacket pocket. The coin on the scale is one of those presidential $1 coins and weighs 0.25 Troy ounces. There is a tare button to set the balance to zero weight when starting it up and there is nothing on the scale. You can also use a US nickel as a weight standard. It weighs 5.0 grams. The scale is powered by a pair of AAA type batteries and has a plastic case that completely encloses it for storage / travel. Unfortunately, this case design is a little on the fragile side and I managed to break off one of the guide pins that fit into tracks in the case lid... snap. Yes, the pins are tiny and prone to jamming if the case lid is not pushed on in a perfectly straight manner. Oh, well. I can forgive it this minor problem thanks to the utility of having such a handy scale for my coin and bullion collecting. One other thing is that this scale is limited to a max weight of 500 grams, so it will not weigh a full tube of ASEs or Maples, both of which weight more than that. You can weigh 15-16 of these coins at once, no problem. It also has a counting feature that could come in handy at times. You program in the weight of a single coin, push the PCS button, and it will then return the number of coins in a stack rather than the weight. This is handy when putting loose coins into tubes or when checking the number of coins you are buying as part of a lot. I can't say anything about the reliability of this balance. It looks good and seems to work pretty well... so far, so good, anyway. For $13, it seems hard to beat. Report this Post to the Staff

tripncoins Pillar of the Community United States 648 Posts	Posted 01/19/2012 8:20 pm Nice pick up there. I also have a similar scale with features as such. (19 bucks). If I am buying $$$ bullion, for $19 dollars it's worth the peace of mind to me. Report this Post to the Staff
numismaniac Valued Member United States 361 Posts	Posted 01/19/2012 8:31 pm Nice little scale. I am going to look for one next time I visit. Report this Post to the Staff
biggfredd Rest in Peace United States 9104 Posts	Posted 01/19/2012 8:41 pm They have another one about the same price, which also weighs grains and carats, 1000g capacity. Report this Post to the Staff
Silverhawk74 Pillar of the Community United States 3670 Posts	Posted 01/20/2012 12:27 am Nice smart addition, and I about flipped out when I saw that gold coin there.... Oh heck, look out Ed is on the gold, lol.... Report this Post to the Staff
almingbg Valued Member Sweden 71 Posts	Posted 01/20/2012 02:55 am Very nice pick, indeed. Quote: I can't say anything about the reliability of this balance You can take the scale to a goldsmith and ask him to check it. He must have some really precise weights and then you'll know about the precision of your scale. Report this Post to the Staff
cwalker New Member Canada 30 Posts	Posted 01/20/2012 05:24 am You can buy weights at you local bong/weed/hemp store. There usually only a couple bucks. Or set 1g 10g 100g type a things. There also a real cheap place for scales. Report this Post to the Staff
throwbackid Pillar of the Community 1283 Posts	Posted 01/20/2012 08:12 am You can now buy scrap sterling for cheap. I usually pay between $.75 to a $1 per DWT. No need to guess anymore about the weight of something. Report this Post to the Staff
Ed_B Pillar of the Community United States 4008 Posts	Posted 01/20/2012 6:55 pm Quote: Nice pick up there. I also have a similar scale with features as such. (19 bucks). If I am buying $$$ bullion, for $19 dollars it's worth the peace of mind to me. Thanks, Trip. The one that you have sounds good too. Either one would be handy to have when checking coin and bar weights. Quote: Nice little scale. I am going to look for one next time I visit. Yes, they have 2-3 different ones that they sell. They were out of the others and this one looked OK to me so I got it. Quote: They have another one about the same price, which also weighs grains and carats, 1000g capacity. Even better, Fredd. If they had that in stock, I would have bought it instead. The higher capacity would be especially useful. Considering just how cheap these are, I might just do that anyway. Quote: Nice smart addition, and I about flipped out when I saw that gold coin there.... Oh heck, look out Ed is on the gold, lol.... Lol, Hawk! I used that coin just with you in mind. Otherwise, I would have used an ASE or a silver Maple. These $1 coins look like gold at 1st glance but they are cheap plating of some kind. I need to cash these in one of these days. I have a plastic baggie with 42 of them in it. Might just convert them into an ASE and a Walking Liberty 1/2 dollar sometime. Quote: Very nice pick, indeed. Thanks. Quote: You can take the scale to a goldsmith and ask him to check it. He must have some really precise weights and then you'll know about the precision of your scale. Not a problem. As a retired R&D chemist, I can easily borrow some analytical standard weights from one of the Mettler service kits for this purpose. I'm sure that it is close enough for my needs just as it is. It did show a nickel as being 5.0 grams and that is what they weighed in the lab. Of course, we had a few more decimal places on those balances. Quote: Or set 1g 10g 100g type a things. There also a real cheap place for scales. Yes, an inexpensive set like that might be just the thing. Quote: No need to guess anymore about the weight of something. Indeed not. KNOWING beats guessing every time! Report this Post to the Staff
Libertad Pillar of the Community Canada 3692 Posts	Posted 01/20/2012 7:29 pm Scales like this work best when they have maybe half of their capacity being used. Try using a "tare" or a tray to increase its accuracy. Mine goes up to 50 grams and up to 2 decimal places. Another one is up to 500 grams but only one decimal place and this is for rolls of coin where it doesn't need to be that accurate. Report this Post to the Staff
akane17 Valued Member United States 404 Posts	Posted 01/20/2012 7:57 pm Nice pick up. (This may only apply to my area, NJ)If anyone doesn't know, almost every sunday in the newspaper circular section, Harbor Freight has a coupon page with a 20% off any single item coupon. I never thought to pick up a scale there, that will be on my list of stops tomorrow. Thanks for sharing. Report this Post to the Staff
Ed_B Pillar of the Community United States 4008 Posts	Posted 01/21/2012 6:54 pm Quote: Scales like this work best when they have maybe half of their capacity being used. Yes, weighing accuracy is often best somewhere near the middle of the weight range. My old lab had a 0.1 mg Mettler top loading balance that would weigh items up to 100g but I tried to keep it closer to 60g for this very reason. While it might not matter much on these little scales when weighing coins, that 4th decimal place on the Mettler was a bit on the finicky side. Quote: Nice pick up... Thanks for sharing. Thanks and you're welcome. Thanks for mentioning the HF coupon. We get their ads all the time but I don't remember seeing any coupons like this one. All of the coupons I've seen from them are for specific items. I'll look closer next time to see if they have a generic 15-20% off coupon. Could come in handy for sure. Report this Post to the Staff
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