Council to auction antique weights and measures

A set of apothecary weights from 1880 is among the items to be auctioned

A council is to auction obsolete weights and measures, with some pieces described as being of "significant local historical value".

Nottinghamshire County Council said some of the 300-piece metrology collection dates back to the Victorian period and could be of interest to antique enthusiasts.

All of the items predate the introduction of the metric system in 1965, the council said.

Cash raised will help fund the authority's continuing trading standards work.

No date has yet been set for the auction of the items

A council spokesperson said some of the equipment carried inscriptions such as “The County of Nottingham” and some have inspectors’ stamps from as far back as 1880.

The authority plans for some key items to be displayed in local museums, county council buildings and archive collections - to show off their craftmanship.

The council said its stores were an "Aladdin's Cave"

Gordon Wheeler, the council's cabinet member for communities, 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 an 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."

The council said it did not know how much the auction, for which no date has been set, would raise.

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