Here is a multi part quiz.

Look at the pic and tell me what these are.

Then say why they had an advantage over other style counterparts.

Then guess what the significance of a small oval stamped on the rim of the largest cup is. Inside the oval is stamped the name " C STAGG"

oww, sorry about the out of focus,, by the way, they are brass

are these containers for a scale. 1/2,3/4,1,1 1/2,2 oz. cups.

You are on the right track Russ, but they arent containers. The second part to the quiz really is the revealing element. ;) ^_^

Well, Russ seems to be the only person who isn't signed up for mandatory summer school and Saturday morning remedial classes. Ditching on quiz day will do that for you.

here are the answers

Russ was almost right there on his first answer. Those are troy weights to a gold balance. These were the most common type gold weight in the California gold rush era in that region. The cup shape plays a critical function, but they arent containers tho. The shape is the answer to the second part.

The shape makes the weights nest together as you can notice. When you have a full set, with no weights missing,, what you get is the fact that any cup at all equals the cumulative weight of all the rest of the cups that can fit into it. That is, a 4 troy ounce cup has 4 ounces of smaller weights fitting inside it, making the entire set weighing 8 ounces,,,,, a one ounce cup also has an ounce inside it when full, making the whole set weighing 2 ounces, and so forth. This eliminates the problem of mis-counting weights jumbled into a scale pan, and when you get experience with the system, your fingers can fly when you have lots of gold to weigh all day. This brings us to the third question.

Who would need to weigh gold all day?
Commercial businesses in the gold rush region. Saloons, mercantiles, banks,, most all stores set up to either handle cash or raw gold for money. It turns out that C Stagg was a govt sealer of weights and measures in the post gold rush years. He travelled through the gold region and inspected the scales and weights. When they passed inspection against his standards, he would stamp his seal of approval on the weights and scale pan both. Collectors of Calif gold rush antiques know his name well. His seal on an item signifies that it was commercial equipment used in a business, as opposed to weights or scales used by a private gold miner. ;) By the way,, C Stagg sealed these weights in 1857, as documented by the date by his name stamp.

thats pretty neat si!!!! thanks for this info!