An auction is set to give antique collectors and historical enthusiasts the opportunity to own a piece of the county’s trading past.
A recent inventory of old metrology equipment held by the Nottinghamshire County Council’s trading standards service has identified a total of 281 items currently in storage, including a wide range of weights, weighing scales, capacity measures and various other pieces of obsolete equipment.
This Aladdin’s cave of historical metrology equipment, some of which dates back to Victorian times, will be put up for auction during the next 12 months. Many of the items are of significant historical value to the area, bearing inscriptions such as “The County of Nottingham” and some have inspectors’ stamps from as far back as 1880.
The equipment is now obsolete for several reasons, including the shift from imperial to metric measures and advances in technology.
While the equipment might be redundant, weights and measures inspectors continue to play a key role within the trading standards service, as they have done since responsibility for this area was given to county councils as part of the Local Government Act 1888.
Today officers use more modern equipment to carry out inspections of suppliers and retailers across Nottinghamshire to make sure that residents are getting what they pay for in the quantities stated.
Funds raised from the sale of the auctioned items will be used to contribute towards the costs of the council’s trading standards service. This includes protecting residents against rogue traders, supporting businesses to enable them trade well and helping to manage the health and welfare of the county’s livestock.
In addition to the auction, the council plans to select a few key pieces that will be displayed in museums, county council buildings and archive collections across the county to give residents the opportunity to appreciate the craftmanship behind the historical items.
Gordon Wheeler, deputy cabinet member for communities and public health at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “We were aware that we had lots of old metrology equipment when we carried out a recent inventory of our storage space, however we didn’t expect to find such amazing collection of historic weights and measures. There are so many wonderful looking items, including Victorian apothecaries’ weights, beam scales and egg grading poises, still in their original boxes.
“We are looking forward to being able to showcase some of these key artefacts to celebrate our local metrology history. And for antique collectors and enthusiasts, the future auction will give them a unique chance to purchase a bit of Nottinghamshire’s history.”
Further details about the auction will be released at a later date, once the plans have been finalised.
