The first astatico galvanometer was presented by Leopoldo Nobili (1784-1835) before the Accademia delle Scienze of Modena on 13 May 1825; to distinguish his two-needle instrument from galvanometers then in use, which had only one magnetic needle suspended at the centre of the coil, he called it a galvanometro a due aghi.
The exemplar described herein is a model of the simplifed version of the actual astatic galvanometer that Nobili constructed in 1828 and called a galvanometro portatile. The museum also contains a Nobili astatic galvanometer in the Ruhmkorff version dating back to 1872, appearing in the inventory under number 167 and with the name Galvanometro di Nobili a filo lungo; however, it lacks the glass case and the astatic element.