This strange looking cast-iron tool is a coffee grinder. Beans go in the top, the lid is put in place and the beans are ground and drop into the lower section mounted on a wooden base. It sold for $413 a few years ago.
In the 1950s, there were still A&P grocery stores that only sold bags of coffee beans that had to be ground in a large iron grinder in the store, even though there were other brands of ground beans in bags. The customer chose the type and could grind it or ask a clerk to help. Some health food stores today still sell customers freshly ground coffee.
