I often get asked what the most interesting thing I’ve ever found is. After a few decades of finding, that’s a tough question to answer, but this weekend I think I may have found something that’s definitely a contender.
Ok, this 19th century Henry Troemner apothecary balance scale might not be the most interesting thing I’ve ever found in a universal sense—but it’s definitely one of the most interesting I’ve ever found in the $10 price range. There are those moments when you do a double take at a price tag—you saw $35, the tag says $350. I thought this was one of those moments. I spied it at a younger couple’s garage sale and when I saw the price I was dumbfounded. How could something so cool only be $10? How was nobody else running down the street with it tucked under their arm, nervously laughing all the way? Wait, is it old? Is this a trap? Am I on TV?
Yes it’s old. No I wasn’t on TV—that I know of. The cabinet of the scale has been refinished and that threw me off because the design looked old but the finish clearly wasn’t. Once I unloaded this beast from the car, I removed the marble top, exposing a mark that reads: “Pat. Aug. 7, 66,” as in 1866. It’s an oldie, and it still works.
A little research revealed a few things—mine is missing a few parts and it isn’t really all that valuable. I knew it should have brass pans for the balancing arms as well as a set of brass weights, and images of identical specimens revealed at some point its finely-cut marble top was replaced with a generic slab of white marble. While people are asking a wide range of big prices for these scales, similar examples usually sell in the $50-100 range. Why? I’m guessing its rather large size (about two feet long) and heavy weight make it more of an albatross to collectors with limited space.
I still think its cool factor far outweighs the negatives and it’s for sure one of my most interesting $10 finds ever.
One Comment
Be honest… you found it at Pottery Barn 😉
(All I can think of whenever I hear apothecary is in Friends when Rachel buys an apothecary table from Pottery Barn and convinces Phoebe that it’s an antique. I may have a problem.)