In the 19th century a popular thing for your desk would be a postal scale, after dealing with your correspondence you could pop your mail onto these small scale to establish the weight, and then place the appropriate stamps on the letter, this way when a member of staff took the mail to the postoffice there would be no need to carry money.
 
This is a brass balance postal scale on an oak base. It has a 4oz, 2oz and 1oz weight. Engraved into one of the pans are the inland postal rates (1 penny for a 4 ounce parcel or letter). This would have been on the desk of a professional person of the day.
 
In good condition, oak base is very clean with no damage, the balance works well and the brass is in good order.
 
Dimensions: 21cm wide x 13ccm deep x 10cm high