THE ABILITY to weigh items has been a key element of trading for centuries, and while today most weighing devices are very hi-tech, the more traditional mechanical devices are increasingly collectable.

Many industries developed their own very specific scales designed to weigh particular items, but the most common and most collectable scales are those designed for the domestic kitchen.

These generally fall into three categories. there are self-indicating scales, which actually display the weight of the item, or there are spring-balanced scales, which use springs for resistance and also display the weight on a dial or scale.

And then there are counter-balanced scales, which use a variety of different sized weights to counter balance the weight of the object placed upon them.

It is this latter category, an example of which illustrates this article, which is perhaps most popular around the antiques trade, and among collectors.

And while there are certain people who will collect lots of different examples, the vast majority of buyers in my experience like on or two examples just as a nostalgic display item for their otherwise ultra-modern kitchen?

Although crude examples of the counter-balance scales existed for hundreds of years, the basic principle was refined in around 1670 in France, and this simple but effective form of weighing was then used worldwide for the next 300 years or so, until the more widespread use of electronic weighing devices.

The counter balanced kitchen scales normally consist of a sturdy metal base, sometimes cast iron, sometimes an alloy or pressed steel, on which the counter-balance mechanism is mounted. There is normally a circular or oval pannier, and then a set of weights, usually in cast iron, though sometimes in brass.

These are of different sizes and different weights.

A lot of different varieties of design can be found round the antiques fairs, and factors which play a part in value are of course condition, whether or not the weights and pannier are brass, which is preferred to metal, and whether the set of weights is complete.

Typically, a set of scales in decent condition with half a dozen weights in cast iron, but perhaps with a brass pannier which looks that little bit more attractive, will fetch about £30 to £35, though exceptional examples will fetch a bit more.

Most of these scales will date from the late Victorian or Edwardian period, but by the early 20th century, these self-indicating scales were becoming more popular.

The standard design was to have a pannier again of brass metal and eventually early plastic mounted above a dial with an indicator finger, which moved around depending on the weight placed above.

These were particularly popular from the 1920s through to the 1960s.

Examples in good condition, and especially those in brightly painted colours typically fetched £25 to £35 and again are mostly sought after because of the period look they can help give a new kitchen.

While this article has concentrated on the main types of kitchen scales which are collectable, there is a market for most other types of scales, with one of the best known manufacturers, Salters, based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands, the most noted manufacturer.

They pioneered the introduction of spring balance scales around 1770 and over the years have produced a variety of different designs based on this principle.

The most common examples, usually with a brass faced indicator scale, fetch between about £10 and £40 depending on design.