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Description: | Four stamped copper alloy coin weights for the gold guineas and half guineas of George III (1760-1820) issued by Street & Pyke of Bridgwater (1773-1800), dated to 1775 on the reverses.The four weights all have 'STREET & PYKE' on the obverses, and 'NEW STAND' (for 'new standard') and 1775 on the reverses. Each weight has numerals below the letters 'P' (for pennyweight) and 'G' (for grain). One coin weight, which weighs 8.3 g, has the numerals '5 : 8' under these letters, which would equate to 5 pennyweights and 8 grains. One pennyweight equates to 24 grains (Withers, 1995, 53), so altogether this is weighing a coin of 128 grains, which is the weight of a guinea (Withers, 1995, 68). These guinea weights could also have the numbers 5 : 6 on them (Withers, 1995, 48), as does the other larger weight, which would equate to 126 grains and weighs 8.15g. The other two smaller weights have the numbers '2 : 14' (4g) and '2 : 16' (4.15g) under the letters 'P' and 'G', which would equate to 64 grains, or a half guinea (Withers, 1995, 68).In the 1770s a large brass foundry in Bridgwater was being run by Robert Street and Thomas Pyke. They advertised that they had acquired 'Standard Weights' and were making large numbers of scales and weights for checking gold coins according to the Acts of 1773-76. Thomas Pyke was mayor of Bridgwater from 1790 to 1791 and from 1810 to 1811.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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