François Antoine Jecker (1779-1812). Mahogany case - Lot 460

François Antoine Jecker (1779-1812). Mahogany case 15.9 x 2.9 x 1.5 cm Jecker A Paris" (AP entrelaces) engraved on the flail in cursive letters. The mechanism consists of a brass flail mounted on a folding parallelogram-shaped support. It is fitted with a sliding counterweight at one end, and a small, curved, folding pallet attached to a mobile axle at the other end, on which the coin to be weighed can be placed. In the lid, a label details the table of gold coins used in the various European states, along with their weights. Very rare. Case slightly damaged. All in good condition. F. A. Jecker was born on November 14, 1765 in Hirtzfelden near Colmar, and died on September 30, 1834 in Montgeron. He worked as a watchmaker in Besançon, then as master locksmith to the king in Versailles. In 1786, he left for London, where he joined the workshops of Jesse Ramsden, the first manufacturer of precision instruments. In 1794, he set up his workshop in Paris on rue des Marmousets to manufacture precision instruments. The TABLE des Monnoies d'Or gives the "weight", expressed in coarse and grain terms, of some twenty coins used in different European countries, from the Ducat de Hollande to the Pièce de Prusse, via the Sequin de Rome and the Pistole d'Espagne. The opening is made on two gold coins of 24 and 48 "livres tournois de France", weighing 2 and 4 gros respectively. The symbol used is very small and placed in superscript. It consists of a stylized l (for livre) followed by a t (for tournois), the bar of which crosses the l.