Antique Sovereign Scales

Aurora et luna

Aurora et luna

Well-Known Member
Silver Stacker
Posting a few pics of the antique Sovereign scales in my collection.
They are all excellent for testing Sovereigns and so far has been spot on in identifying any jeweller's copies.
Not as good with Half Sovereigns. Most Half Sovereigns will pass the weight and shape tests easily enough in all 4 scales.
However with the exception of one of these scales, the half Sovereigns doesn't pass as easily through the thickness and diameter slot.
I have had all the suspect half Sovereigns XRF tested and they all passed with flying colours :/

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JulieW said:
Are you selling any of these ?
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Only need one; I went overboard collecting these scales after someone sold me a couple of middle-eastern copies. :(
Would keep the Bourn as it does a good job in checking half Sovereigns
After the Sovereign are checked with these scales; I always confirm with a modern day Fisch Coin detector before I sell them


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I had a couple of these and sold one on here to someone who I think has since passed it on. I kept the Harrison one which also came with the box, so was pretty happy with that. In hindsight collecting them may be fun also. Nice work AEL
 
Am not sold on these new 'Fishy' scale thingies though they obviously work I can think of much cheaper ways to verify a sovereign and if you know a handy machinist am sure they could knock you up something similar in plastic or Aluminium << Yes I use English spelling too :P

The brass scales however I could live with despite the bulk..
 
Never seen one of those, but I remember my grandfather had a 'silver' Sovereign holder that was a spring loaded cylinder with a small circular lip that held the coins in place after insertion. Held about 5 or so coins I think.

I wonder if fake Sovereigns were common in those days?

OC
 
We appreciate the effort you go to confirming the authenticity before trading mate.. these scales are sooo nice.. a perfect complimentary good for the sovereign stackers amoung us :)
 
Stevo said:
Aurora et luna said:
http://forums.silverstackers.com/uploads/6_img_4598.jpg
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I don't have one myself, but I always thought that sovereigns were supposed to balance on those things [sovereign balances] and not tip it all the way down? How would you know that a coin was too heavy if tipped all the way down was normal?
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I would be very worried if the balance didn't tip or move downwards :P
If a Jeweller's copy was casted in gold that was not close to .916 fine the balance wouldn't move or tip over as the coin would be too light.
 
PhilDaSilva said:
Am not sold on these new 'Fishy' scale thingies though they obviously work I can think of much cheaper ways to verify a sovereign and if you know a handy machinist am sure they could knock you up something similar in plastic or Aluminium << Yes I use English spelling too :P

The brass scales however I could live with despite the bulk..
Click to expand...

Sovereigns dont all have the same thickness at the rim,
And the fiske test seem to give a false negative
with the thicker ones.
But better sure than sorry.
 
PhilDaSilva said:
Am not sold on these new 'Fishy' scale thingies though they obviously work I can think of much cheaper ways to verify a sovereign and if you know a handy machinist am sure they could knock you up something similar in plastic or Aluminium << Yes I use English spelling too :P

The brass scales however I could live with despite the bulk..
Click to expand...

Sovereigns dont all have the same thickness at the rim,
And the fiske test seems to give a false negative
with the thicker ones.
But better sure than sorry.
 
Peter said:
PhilDaSilva said:
Am not sold on these new 'Fishy' scale thingies though they obviously work I can think of much cheaper ways to verify a sovereign and if you know a handy machinist am sure they could knock you up something similar in plastic or Aluminium << Yes I use English spelling too :P

The brass scales however I could live with despite the bulk..
Click to expand...

Sovereigns dont all have the same thickness at the rim,
And the fiske test seems to give a false negative
with the thicker ones.
But better sure than sorry.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have noticed my 1987 Proof Sovereign is much thicker than my regular 1907 version which measures up at 1.47mm x 22.04mm, the 87 comes in at 21.97mm though the rim is visibly thicker, haven't measured the thickness as I don't want to risk the finish.

Both weigh in at 8gram on my 0.1g resolution scale so am happy they are pukka. Has anyone heard of any fake proof sovereigns? I would imagine they are much harder to fake with the nice finish they have.

Both seem to differ from the stats published on Wikipedia which states 7.988052gram 1.52mm thickness and 22.05mm diameter though my vernier caliper isn't calibrated am sure its close enough for what I need.
 
Aurora et luna said:
Posting a few pics of the antique Sovereign scales in my collection.
They are all excellent for testing Sovereigns and so far has been spot on in identifying any jeweller's copies.
Not as good with Half Sovereigns. Most Half Sovereigns will pass the weight and shape tests easily enough in all 4 scales.
However with the exception of one of these scales, the half Sovereigns doesn't pass as easily through the thickness and diameter slot.
I have had all the suspect half Sovereigns XRF tested and they all passed with flying colours :/

nPxrpZg.jpg


KeUxGrs.jpg
Click to expand...


I too now have a Sovereign scale and some sovs to weigh on it:

wfSeUCd.jpg


Its quite hypnotic to watch it bob gently up and down. BUT! Watch carefully what happens just before it comes to rest... you will be shocked and surprised:

F7BXGf4.gif
 
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