Chur, 1770s

Before there were unified currencies, money transactions were complicated: numerous domestic and foreign coins were in circulation, denominations had to be constantly reckoned up against each other. The swap rate among the coins was dependent on the amount of precious metal they contained. The rate for larger gold and silver coins also depended on the current market value of the materials.

That the fineness and the weight of the currencies often did not meet the requirements additionally made the calculation more difficult. So it was worth controlling coins accurately before accepting them in payment. Such a coin scale served this purpose.