A bismar (or desemer) is a simple balance with a weight at one end of the beam, a load hook at the other end, and a moveable fulcrum in between. This example is made of steel. The side of the beam is stamped in a circle “MARIEFORS + KELLOKOSKY +” and the weight is stamped with a crown and “1946 2.”
Kellikosky is a village in the Finnish municipality of Tuusula; Mariefors is its Swedish name. An axe factory was established there in the early nineteenth century.
Ref: Herrmann Sökeland “On Ancient Desemers or Steelyards,” Smithsonian Institution Annual Report (1900): 551-564.
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