borgovan

You want: http://www.oldwillknottscales.com

I used them for my scale. They're reasonably priced, and they provide a good product.

I can't remember which one I bought off-hand; I'd have to look at it when I go home. I do know I spent around $100, and I'm very pleased. My scale has good resolution for my purposes, and it is very precise and accurate. I have used it to weigh coins as a test of authenticity, and I use it to weigh gemstones.

Belisarius

Thanks for all the help, you have definitely provided some good suggestions and guidance. I may have talked myself up a notch, the My Weigh 250 and 500 look very tempting at oldwillknottscales.com. I can't think of a situation where I would need much more than one troy ounce of capacity (~31g), so I'm leaning toward the 250 (0.001g resolution, 50g capacity) vs the 500 (0.002g resolutions, 100g capacity). Do you need higher capacity for anything?

Regarding my avatar, there are two moderately better pics in the Error forum under the posting "Cent Error Coin?", and I will also post much better pics once my magnifiers arrive in the mail (hopefully today!) Found that one in a bank box of cents last week!

Just Carl

One thing to remember when purchasing a scale is just how often are you planning on using one. If very seldom, you really may just want to find the cheapest one even if not the most accurate one. If it's for one coin and then shelved for a rainy day, look for something reasonable. Of all the ones I've got I only weighed one coin once. Other than that they are for reloading ammo. If it was for coins, they would sit on a shelf.

DoK U Mint

I tend to prefer my balance. No power source required and a three beam is good to 0.00~ grams.

Course I learned a loose compression charge of IMR 2447 is just right behind a 240 grain HP in my .44.

Works great in both my Ruger & and my Marlin and my Morgans.

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"We're all ignorant, just on Different Subjects." Will Rogers

Bartelmoose

I'm rather partial to a Dillon RL550B consistently and accurately turning out .308 in once-fired, properly trimmed and cleaned Lake City brass, a Sierra 168 HPBT, 41.5 grains of IMR 4895, a Fed 210M primer...

Hard to use in coin collecting, though.

I do miss shooting HPR.

[sigh]

silvrluvr

Off-scale topic, but if you want the coolest thing ever, get a stereo microscope.

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-Jeff in MN
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buy, buy, buy, sell, buy it back, buy, buy, buy....

rockdude

Got one the other day.

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An artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have. Andy Warhol

silvrluvr

You will never regret it. Everyone should have one.

__________________
-Jeff in MN
_______________________________________
buy, buy, buy, sell, buy it back, buy, buy, buy....

rockdude

Now all I have to do is clear a spot for it. All this work is endless.

__________________
An artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have. Andy Warhol

rockdude

To vary as little as yours does would seem acceptable for what I do and probably others.

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An artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have. Andy Warhol

ahearn

I just bought one on eBay with .01g accuracy for $9.95 from a Chinese seller -- no tax, no shipping cost. Don't pay more than about $25, whatever you buy.

Vess1

I got a Digiweigh that has +/- .01 g accuracy and it's great. It was around $20 off ebay.

I have some very tiny test weights that are for checking a reloading scale. The digiweigh will accurately weigh the 1 'grain' weight every time. Which is 0.06 grams. It's a tiny little 3/8" piece of metal. It's so light you can't even feel it in your hand. (FWIW, there are 7000 grains in a pound.)

It would not weigh the 0.5 grain weight. It was too light to register. I don't know how that affects it's accuracy with heavier things but that was the result. I think it weighs up to 3.5 ounces and will read in grams, ounces, grains or carats.

IME, the higher quality ones that will cost more money are the ones that can weight that accurately at the low end but can also weigh more at the higher end. Like 1 lb. or more. Then they really get up there.

There's been great advice here. This scale is all you would need. You won't need to use it that often so it's one of those things that it's probably not worth blowing a lot of money on. A Dillon precision would be better but I'd say not necessary for checking coins.

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When the well's dry, we know the worth of water.
- Benjamin Franklin

odhinn

Newbie here (first post!)

I'm getting back into coin collecting and have been reading with dismay about the flood of counterfeit coins, mostly Chinese. One of the articles I was reading about detecting counterfeit coins mentioned getting a good 0.01g scale and comparing weights to known values, as well as calipers, magnet, loupe, etc.

The question I have about the scale is, unless you're talking about gold coins, it seems fairly straighforward to make a silver plated alloy blank that weighs the same as say a real Morgan. So how useful is a scale really in checking the authenticity of a coin?

While I'm here, how does one use a scale to check a slabbed coin? Wouldn't you have to break the slab to get an accurate measurement, defeating the point of buying a slabbed piece to begin with?

Any insight appreciated. Thanks!

panamagold

I was wondering the same thing. I don't have a solution for the silver Morgans, but as far as slabs, you could get an idea if the weight is right, but there is a margin of error that would keep you from properly estimating small coins.

Basically, for the weight only method your pretty much SOL.

PG

DoK U Mint

I thought you paid them to weight it when they slabbed it.

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"We're all ignorant, just on Different Subjects." Will Rogers