Do you have any scruples? I do!

jonathanb · June 23, 2008 1:48PM

These are very common individually, to the point of being junk-box fodder in most cases, but I thought the original tin was very neat. I don't know if it's truly a full set any more. I assume that at least one piece has gone missing in the last century-plus.

20 grains in 1 scruple
3 scruples in 1 drachm (now known as a dram)
8 drachms (drams) in 1 ounce
12 ounces in 1 troy pound
(and yes, I had to look that up.)

(edited to correct number of ounces in a troy pound)

harvey85422458 · June 23, 2008 1:53PM

cladking · June 23, 2008 1:55PM

I collect them but they're surprisingly difficult to find.

They must have made millions of them. It's hard to understand how why most of one thing
might survive but few of another. I guess a lot people must have thrown them out.

They aren't scarce.

I gotta find me some of those little ones.

coinsarefun · June 23, 2008 1:57PM

Very

Stefanie

jonathanb · June 23, 2008 2:00PM

cladking, do you know how many pieces are supposed to be in the full set?

cladking · June 24, 2008 1:39AM

<< <i>cladking, do you know how many pieces are supposed to be in the full set? >>

No. I've never even seen the smaller ones.

MrHalfDime · June 24, 2008 2:10AM

"1526, from O.Fr. scrupule (14c.), from L. scrupulus "uneasiness, anxiety, pr**king of conscience," lit. "small sharp stone," dim. of scrupus "sharp stone or pebble," used figuratively by Cicero for a cause of uneasiness or anxiety, probably from the notion of having a pebble in one's shoe. The verb meaning "to have or make scruples" is attested from 1627. Scrupulous is first recorded 1443, from L. scrupulosus. A more literal L. sense of "small unit of weight or measurement" is attested in Eng. from 1382.

... from the On-Line Etymology Dictionary

Those are quite cool, and apparently the origin of the word in our current language, implying that those merchants who offer fair and honest weight have 'scruples'.

Thanks for sharing.

BlindedByEgo · June 24, 2008 2:40AM

That is a really neat set. Common or not, what a fascinating glimpse into the obsolete - collecting those would be like collecting buggy whips

droopyd · June 24, 2008 3:48AM

i think you have a troy ounce measuring system for weighing gold and silver.

it's 480 grains to a troy ounce, 437.5 grains to an ounce avoirdupois.

ricko · June 24, 2008 5:01AM

If I have none... would I be considered 'unscrupulous'????

Cheers, RickO

NumisOxide · June 24, 2008 5:37AM

Never seen anything like that before. What are they?

ProofArtworkonCircs · June 24, 2008 3:15PM

<<20 grains in 1 scruple
3 scruples in 1 drachm (now known as a dram)
8 drachms (drams) in 1 ounce
16 ounces in 1 pound
(and yes, I had to look that up.)>>

Where did you look it up?
Apothecaries' ounces and pounds are the same as the troy system. It is only the smaller divisions that are different.
480 grains = 1 ounce
12 ounces = 1 pound

jonathanb · June 24, 2008 3:25PM

Yeah, I copied it wrong. This is a troy system, so 12 ounces in the pound as a couple of people have pointed out. Sorry about that.

ProofArtworkonCircs · June 24, 2008 4:00PM

Thanks to the differing systems, remember that:
A pound of feathers is heavier than a pound of gold, but
an ounce of gold is heavier than an ounce of feathers.

coindeuce · June 24, 2008 10:13PM

<< <i>Never seen anything like that before. What are they? >>

Those are apothecary weights, used by pharmacists to measure powdered, granular, or tablet forms of prescription medicines. The premier collector of these is a pharmacist from Rochester, N.Y. His exhibit of apothecary weights at the Pittsburgh A.N.A. convention in 2004(?) earned a 1st place award.

mrcommem · June 25, 2008 2:54AM

That is a nice old set of apothecary weights. I have a similar set as well as modern set. Your number of ounces for an avoirdupois (business) pound is correct, but there are two kinds of pounds. The mearsurement used in pharmacy and bullion is a troy or apothecary pound and it has only 12 ounces of 480 grains. The one ounce that equals 8 drams is 480 grains. The one ounce in business pound equals 437.5 grains. It not a good idea to get the mixed up.

Do you have any scruples? I do!

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