Weights and balances

Coins have to be produced accurately today as a defence against counterfeiting and so that they can efficiently operate vending machines. When the British coinage was made of gold and silver and the face value of the coins was related to the actual amount of gold or silver they contained, making coins accurately was just as much of a concern. That is why you will find in the Museum of the Royal Mint balances and sets of weights.

One set, known as a nest of weights because all the weights fit inside one another like Russian dolls, was made in 1707 during the reign of Queen Anne and will have been known to Isaac Newton during his time as Master of the Mint. Another set dates from 1816 and is housed in a handsome wooden box secured by three locks. Every element of this set speaks of the importance that was placed in the Mint on maintaining accurate measures of weight. Three different keys, held by three different key-holders, were required to open the box; the gold standard weight for a shilling was kept inside a recess, inside another recess, inside the locked box of weights; and the names of those who were allowed access to the set was engraved on a brass plate on the front of the box. Such caution was indicative of the system of safeguards that operated within the Mint, whereby officials checked the activities of their colleagues.