PROBABLY LONDON, CIRCA 1730

The engravings on the sides and base of the box contain the mathematical values and conversions for various metals and other commodities such as ivory and oak together with their corresponding ancient metal symbols. These symbols appear to have attained their final form in the 11th and 12th centuries A. D. and were used by most of the medieval alchemists and astronomers. The circle was seen as the sign of perfection and was thus given to gold, and by this reasoning, the less noble a metal the more intricately disfigured was the circle. During these times only seven metals were known and a link was established between these seven and the same number of known celestial bodies, the sun, the moon and five planets. Thus every metal had its corresponding celestial body, with gold associated with the sun and silver with the moon.