Penny (unit)
In the United States, the length of a nail is designated by its penny size, written with a number and the abbreviation d for penny; for example, 10d for a ten-penny nail. A larger number indicates a longer nail, shown in the table below. Nails under 1¼ inch, often called brads, are sold mostly in small packages with only a length designation or with length and wire gauge designations; for example, 1" 18 ga or 3/4" 16 ga.
Penny sizes originally referred to the price for a long hundred nails in England in the 13th century:[1] the larger the nail, the higher the cost per long hundred.[2][3][4][5] The system remained in use in England into the 20th century, but is obsolete there today. The d is an abbreviation for denarius, a Roman coin similar to a penny; this was the abbreviation for a penny in the UK before decimalisation.
| penny size | length (inches) | length (nearest mm) |
|---|---|---|
| 2d | 1 | 25 |
| 3d | 1¼ | 32 |
| 4d | 1½ | 38 |
| 5d | 1¾ | 44 |
| 6d | 2 | 51 |
| 7d | 2¼ | 57 |
| 8d | 2½ | 65 |
| 9d | 2¾ | 70 |
| 10d | 3 | 76 |
| 12d | 3¼ | 83 |
| 16d | 3½ | 89 |
| 20d | 4 | 102 |
| 30d | 4½ | 115 |
| 40d | 5 | 127 |
| 50d | 5½ | 140 |
| 60d | 6 | 152 |
References
- ↑ D. Nutt (1890). Archaeological Review: Volume 4. p. 322.
In this connexion it is interesting to reflect that the proverbial "tenpenny nail" was a nail sold at 10d. for the long hundred.
- ↑ "Penny" (subscription required). Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Retrieved 2010-05-30.
Applied to nails, such adjectives denote the original price (in 15th c.) per hundred; as fivepenny nail, a nail which cost 5d. a hundred, tenpenny nail, a nail costing 10d. a hundred. (These names persisted after the prices fell, as they began to do in some places before 1500, and they were eventually used to designate sizes of nails.)
- ↑ H. Littlehales (1905). Medieval Rec. London City ChurchCited in the Oxford English Dictionary under "Penny" with a quote from 1426-1427.
- ↑ "Penny". sizes.com. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ↑ Norman Scott Brien Gras (1918). The Early English Customs System. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA). p. 701. Cited at sizes.com with a quote from 1507.