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Artifact Spotlight - Queen Anne weights

Artifact no.: CSTM 1997.0079

Source: Newfoundland, circa 1844

  Queen Anne weights

In 1855, the Troy pound (5 760 grains), which had been defined by British legislation in 1824, was replaced by a pound of 7 000 grains — Avoirdupois — the source of the traditional child's conundrum, "when is a pound not a pound?". The Museum's set (1997.0079), made to the new standard, are referred to as the "Queen Anne weights". These were used in Newfoundland from about 1844 to 1936. They were replaced with new standards of unusual shape, just as Newfoundland became a Canadian province in 1949. The new Avoirdupois standard weights (1997.0156) were ordered from de Grave, Short & Co. in London before Newfoundland entered Confederation. They are marked "G IV R 5323 1949" and "St. John [sic] Newfoundland". Although probably intended, when ordered, to become primary standards for Newfoundland, Confederation with Canada in 1949 relegated them to secondary standards.

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