Antiques & Collecting: Coin-operated scale

Most of us diet and check our weight, but the days of tall scales sitting on a street corner waiting for someone to put a penny in the slot and step on the scale are almost gone.

It was during the 1920s and ‘30s that coin-operated scales were important. The first pedestrian coin scales were made in Germany in 1885, and by 1889, the National Scale Company was manufacturing them in the United States.

In 1929, Peerless Scale Company, the largest in the United States, was worth over $50 million — much more if you think in terms of 2022 dollars.

The pennies were enough. A scale in a good location earned about $1,000 a year. By the 1930s there were new incentives to spend a penny.

The scale supplied a ticket with your weight printed on it. The tickets added fortunes, and people collected sets.

But the fad didn’t last and by the 1940s there were barely a third of the scales still left. The personal bathroom scale had replaced almost all of them.

Collectors ignored the old scales at first, but by the 1970s, there were collectors who bought the Peerless scales and others, and especially figural scales like an iron Mr. Peanut.

Mr. Peanut scales were created in 1951. There were only 65 ever made — one for each of Planters Stores.

The scale pictured measures weights from 25 pounds to 275 pounds. It sold at a Cowan auction for $344.

I have a full bottle of Corby’s Park Lane Canadian Whisky. The seal is intact and has “1942″ printed on it. I also have the original box and hard container for it. I know it is old, as it was in my aunt’s liquor cabinet for many years. Is there any collector value to this? If I do sell it, can I legally ship it to the buyer?

The value is in the collectible container and its packaging, not its contents. It is likely a special decanter bottle, probably a Christmas special, which makes it more collectible than a regular decanter. Park Lane Canadian Whisky has been discontinued.

Laws vary from state to state on selling whiskey. But you could sell an empty bottle and box.

Current Prices

Royal Doulton, Bunnykins figurine, Nurse with Red Cross, white apron and cap with red cross on each, dark blue cape, Graham Tongue, DB 74, 1989, 4 inches, $50.

Wood carving, dough bowl, French Provincial, oval, 18th century, 8 x 36 3/4 x 18 inches, $160.

Sewer tile bank, football, brown textured glaze, coin slot on side, molded tee base, Ohio, early 20th century, 8 inches, $375.

Silver, sterling tea set, flared paneled bottom, elongated cinched neck, shaped handles, stepped foot, open sugar, Gorham, three pieces, $415.

Tip: Put the silica packets that come in shoeboxes, handbags and with some prescription pills in the storage containers that hold your out-of-season clothes. The packets keep moisture and bugs away.