In Barcelona in the 18th and 19th centuries, there were several houses that manufactured, among other types of pieces, scales specifically intended for weighing coins. The surnames Barbarà, Crusats, Deops and Farriols allude to us to measure tuners but also to locksmiths with an open manufacturing workshop. These were families of artisans with workshops in which they produced the scales and weights that were then sold in the shops, which they also had open and which became real showcases of their production.

The preservation in the collection of the Tarradell workshop of some pieces and documents from the old Farriols workshop, such as pattern books, account books and other materials, allows us to reconstruct and evoke a production system and uses that are now forgotten but that in their time were everyday. That is, when the coins had an intrinsic value that meant that their weight had to be verified with the help of specific scales and weights.

1. Models of coin weighing scales. Practice of the locksmith Josep Farriols, Barcelona, 1779. Donated by Núria and Eulàlia Tarradell Font.

2. Box with coin weighing scales. Farriols locksmith workshop, Barcelona, 19th century. Donated by Núria and Eulàlia Tarradell Font.