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    why are 10 penny nails call pennys

    0  Views: 1234 Answers: 2 Posted: 11 years ago
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    2 Answers

    A ten penny nail reffers to the size of the nail.
    A ten penny nail is 3 inches long.
    An 8 penny 2 1/2 inches.
    A 16 penny 3 1/2 inches


    Penny system "was based on the number of nails of that size in one pound. In time this came to be mispronounced until it became "penny". A ten-penny nail weighed 10 pounds (pennies) per thousand nails."

    It is commonly believed that the origin of the term "penny" in relation to nail size is based on the old custom in England of selling nails by the hundred. A hundred nails that sold for six pence were "six penny" nails. The larger the nail, the more a hundred nails would cost, hence the larger nails have a larger number for their penny size. This classification system was still used in England in the 18th century, but is obsolete there now.
    Source(s):
    Wikipedia


    ten·pen·ny nail (tnpn, -p-n)
    n.
    A nail 3.0 inches (7.6 centimeters) long.
    [From its original price per hundred.]



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