1830-1860 AD., Great Britain, Coin weight, Half Sovereign, W & T Avery, Birmingham, Withers 2266b.

Great Britain, Coin weight, Half Sovereign, W & T Avery, Birmingham, 1830-1860 AD.,
Brass Coin Weight (18 mm / 4,00 g),
Obv.: W. &. T. AVERY / BIRMm. , around three circles.
Rev.: Half / SOVEREIGN , rose, flowers and plants.
Withers 2266b .

William and Thomas Avery were relatives of Joseph Balden, and inherited his scalemaking business when he died in 1813. (The firm’s claim to date back to 1730 is based on a liberal interpretation of the facts.) The firm was known as W&T Avery from about 1818 onwards. The name is seen on coin and apothecaries weights of the 1840's. By 1885 they had three factories: the Atlas Works in West Bromwich, the Mill Lane works in Birmingham, and the Moat Lane Works, Digbeth, also in Birmingham. The firm became a public limited liability company in 1894, and moved to the famous Soho Foundry in 1897. They set up branches in many towns (e.g. 29 Exchange Street, Sheffield, from 1897), and gradually took over many other firms in the scalemaking trade, in some cases retaining the original name. The business was itself taken over by GEC in 1979. Having been taken over by GEC in 1979 the company was later renamed into GEC-Avery. The company became Avery Berkel in 1993 when GEC acquired the Dutch company Berkel. After the take over by Weigh-Tronix in 2000 the company was again renamed to be called Avery Weigh-Tronix. The company is based in Smethwick, West Midlands, United Kingdom.
In 2008 Illinois Tool Works Inc. purchased Avery Weigh-Tronix from its then owners, European Capital.