| Description |
English Double-Sided Pub TillAn inventive device intended to function as an early form of cash register for public houses and other businesses. Manufactured from solid mahogany, brass, and thick glass plates. Both customer and cashier could follow the coin offered in payment as it was dropped in a slot and held in a zigzag system of trays between two panes of glass, before dropping into a locked money box in the base. The mechanism is activated by a set of brass levers that slide back and forth and cause a bell to ring each time a coin is inserted. Instead of the usual single coin rack on both sides of a central tower, this double-sided model has two coin shelves back to back on one side of the tower, for use by two cashiers. A wide base on both sides contains bowls for loose change. On one side, two bowls are inset into the base, but the other side has only one bowl laid in, on the right side, with a locked drawer on the left. A small, detachable wooden bowl is placed in a shallow circular insert above the drawer. The drawer contains an extra bowl and a set of keys. An enameled oval plaque on the tower reads INVENTOR & PATENTEE/J.C. COX/174 QUEEN VICTORIA ST. LONDON. EC. Approximately 16 x 17 x 17 inches. Ex: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society.
Heritage Auctions 11/2018 (Newman XI), lot15091 (realized $1020).
Heritage link: http://www.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1283&lotIdNo=11700 |
