Bits and Pieces

Miscellaneous parts found during inventory. Item in lower right corner was later found to be a piece broken off of a set of cast iron scales.

These miscellaneous parts were found during the inventory process.  While they may look like junk (and many of them may turn out to be just that), the innocuous looking metal piece T2009.002.053 proved to be much more.  About three weeks after it was found, it was identified as a missing piece from a set of Henry Troemner scales. 

Henry Troemner started manufacturing commercial scales in 1838 in Philadelphia and received a contract to make scales for the US Mint.  Sometime after 1856, they started making pharmaceutical scales.  The company is still in business today. 

Not every item inventoried is historic or will become part of the museum, but every item found is numbered and kept until it can be identified.