Any ideas on what this is please?

[Debbie]

Morning chaps. I wondered if any of you can help me with this? It's not a coin but could be money related? My other half likes collecting engineering objects which have obscure uses, but we have no idea what this could be. It's aprox 11cm wide, 14cm long and 11 cm at its highest point made from some sort of galvanized metal. maybe 1930's?

Thanks for looking!

[Rob]

Do the wheels rotate independently or count sequentially when the handle is turned or is the handle used to reset the wheels after you manually turn them to a given setting? Any holes to insert something anywhere? The numbering suggests it operates in both directions. Something to do with locks where you turn a wheel both clockwise and anticlockwise?

[Debbie]

Each "cog" will rotate independently, but only dowmwards in the one direction. The numbers then appear in the above boxes in succession from 0- 9. The handle appears to move all the cogs that have been moved in the first place. It also resets them all to 0.

Do you think it could be an early counting machine?

[Peter]

I was thinking about a mechanical calculator.Has it got a makers name?

[Colin G.]

Could be some sort of tally for counting people, mining, football ground or similar. But why would they have different colours. Would it allow you to count people in with one set of reels and then people out with the other at the same time?

[Colin G.]

http://www.mathsinstruments.me.uk/page26.html

Interesting to note the same colour change to indicate decimal figures, hundreds and thousands

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adding_machine

That one looks similar

Edited July 1, 2014 by Colin G.

[Debbie]

Thanks for your inputs guys. No markings or writing on it at all Peter, which leads me to think it had some sort of industrial use - like the idea of counting in something Colin.. Intrigued to know how it was used still though and why the numbers are 4/5 5/4 6/3 7/2 etc.... especially if it does calculate something!

[Debbie]

http://www.officemuseum.com/calculating_machines_non-listing%20adding%20machines.htm I have found something similar - the beach calculating machine - the numbers are the same, gawd knows how it works though!

[Rob]

Maybe it doubles as a subtracting device because they are complementary numbers, or tells you the change to be given?

[scott]

Big calculator, best guess is it an early calculator

[just.me]

similar and varying versions here http://www.hpmuseum.org/addsimp.htm

an early adding machine, yours looks to be an adding + subtracting machine.

[Peckris]

Bletchley Park say if you hand it in within 7 days, there'll be no further action.

[josie]

Early mechanical adding and subtracting machine,from Abacus to calculator to cash register to computer,adding machine was invented by pascal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_calculator

I do not know what denominations they have in 193o,if the nos. in the machine is fraction or not,add all nos. o-9...1-8 still 9 last digit decimal or predecimal?.

just a comment.

Edited July 4, 2014 by josie

[Debbie]

Many thanks for all your comments - especially for that link Josie as the operations bit actually explains how it works!

I can't help thinking that a pencil and paper calculation would be so much easier though!

[josie]

Posting.

Maybe same as this one?

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_694123

This is the nearest i think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptometer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_complements

Edited July 4, 2014 by josie