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Penny (English Coin)
The English penny (plural "pence"), originally a coin of pure silver, was introduced by King Offa of Mercia. These coins were similar in size and weight to the continental ''denier (coin), deniers'' of the period and to the Anglo-Saxon sceats which had preceded it. Throughout the period of the Kingdom of England, from its beginnings in the 9th century, the penny was produced in silver. Pennies of the same nominal value, of a pound sterling, were in circulation continuously until the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Etymology The name "penny" comes from the Old English ''pennige'' (), sharing the same root as the German language, German ''Pfennig''. Its abbreviation d. comes from the Roman ''denarius'' and was used until Decimal Day, decimalisation in 1971. Idioms Due to their ubiquity pennies have accumulated a great number of idioms to their name usually recognizing them for their commonality and minuscule value. These might include: *cut (one) off with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danegeld
Danegeld (; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or Protection racket, protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the ''geld'' or ''gafol'' in eleventh-century sources. It was characteristic of royal policy in both England and Francia during the ninth through eleventh centuries, collected both as Tribute, tributary, to buy off the attackers, and as stipendiary, to pay the defensive forces. The term ''Danegeld'' did not appear until the late eleventh century. In History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon England tribute payments to the Danes was known as ''gafol'' and the levy raised to support the standing army, for the defence of the realm, was known as ''heregeld'' (army-tax). England In England, a Hide (unit), hide was notionally an area of land sufficient to support one family; however their true size and economic value varied enormously. The hide's purpose was as a unit of assessmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pennyweight
A pennyweight (dwt) is a unit of mass equal to 24 grains, of a troy ounce, of a troy pound, avoirdupois ounce and exactly 1.55517384 grams. It is abbreviated dwt, ''d'' standing for ''denarius'' (an ancient Roman coin), and later used as the symbol of an old British penny (see £sd). History In the Middle Ages, an English penny's weight was literally, as well as monetarily, of an ounce and of a pound of sterling silver. At that time, the pound unit in use in England was the Tower pound, equal to 7,680 Tower grains (also known as wheat grains). The medieval English pennyweight was thus equal to 32 Tower grains. When Troy weights replaced Tower weights in 1527, the Troy weights were defined in such a way that the old Tower pound came out to exactly 5,400 Troy grains (also known as barleycorns), the Tower pennyweight Troy grains (and thus approximately 1.46 grams). After 1527, the English pennyweight was the Troy pennyweight. of 24 Troy grains. Thus the T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry VIII Of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolution of the monasteries, dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was List of people excommunicated by the Catholic Church, excommunicated by the pope. Born in Greenwich, Henry brought radical changes to the Constitution of England, expanding royal power and ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings in opposition to papal supremacy. He frequently used charges of treason and heresy to quell dissent, and those accused were often executed without a formal trial using bills of attainder. He achi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troy Weight
Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and the troy pound (12 troy ounces). The troy grain is equal to the grain unit of the avoirdupois system, but the troy ounce is heavier than the avoirdupois ounce, and the troy pound is lighter than the avoirdupois pound. Legally, one troy ounce (oz t) equals exactly 31.1034768 grams. Etymology Troy weight is generally supposed to take its name from the French market town of Troyes where English merchants traded at least as early as the early 9th century. The name ''troy'' is first attested in 1390, describing the weight of a platter, in an account of the travels in Europe of the Earl of Derby. Charles Moore Watson (1844–1916) proposes an alternative etymology: ''The Assize of Weights and Measures'' (also known a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry II Of England
Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers Constitutional monarchy, regula ... from 1154 until his death in 1189. During his reign he controlled Kingdom of England, England, substantial parts of Wales in the High Middle Ages, Wales and Lordship of Ireland, Ireland, and much of Kingdom of France, France (including Duchy of Normandy, Normandy, County of Anjou, Anjou, and Duchy of Aquitaine, Aquitaine), an area that altogether was later called the Angevin Empire, and also held power over Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and the Duchy of Brittany. Henry was the eldest son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and Empress Matilda, Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England. By the age of fourteen, he became politically and militarily involved in The Anarchy, his mother's efforts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fineness
The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hardness and durability of coins and jewelry, alter colors, decrease the cost per weight, or avoid the cost of high-purity refinement. For example, copper is added to the precious metal silver to make a more durable alloy for use in coins, housewares and jewelry. Coin silver, which was used for making silver coins in the past, contains 90% silver and 10% copper, by mass. Sterling silver contains 92.5% silver and 7.5% of other metals, usually copper, by mass. Various ways of expressing fineness have been used and two remain in common use: ''millesimal fineness'' expressed in units of parts per 1,000 and '' karats'' or ''carats'' used only for gold. Karats measure the parts per 24, so that 18 karat = = 75% gold and 24 karat gold is considered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sterling Silver
Sterling silver is an alloy composed mass fraction (chemistry), by weight of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver silver standards, standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fineness, Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is relatively soft, so silver is usually alloyed with copper to increase its hardness and strength. Sterling silver is prone to Tarnish, tarnishing, and elements other than copper can be used in alloys to reduce tarnishing, as well as casting porosity and firescale. Such elements include germanium, zinc, platinum, silicon, and boron. Recent examples of these alloys include Argentium sterling silver, ''argentium'', ''sterlium'' and ''silvadium''. Etymology The term ''sterling silver'' originally meant "silver fit to be used in the making of sterlings", ''sterling'' being another name for the English Penny (English coin), silver penny. The etymology of ''sterling'' itself is Pound_sterling#Etymology, unclear and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gram
The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined in 1795 as "the absolute Mass versus weight, weight of a volume of pure water equal to Cube (algebra), the cube of the hundredth part of a metre [1 Cubic centimetre, cm3], and at Melting point of water, the temperature of Melting point, melting ice", the defining temperature (0 °C) was later changed to the temperature of maximum density of water (approximately 4 °C). Subsequent redefinitions agree with this original definition to within 30 Parts-per notation, parts per million (0.003%), with the maximum density of water remaining very close to 1 g/cm3, as shown by modern measurements. By the late 19th century, there was an effort to make the Base unit (measurement), base unit the kilogram and the gram a derived unit. In 1960, the new International System of Units defined a '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in both the British imperial and United States customary systems of measurement. Various definitions have been used; the most common today is the international avoirdupois pound, which is legally defined as exactly , and which is divided into 16 avoirdupois ounces. The international standard symbol for the avoirdupois pound is lb; an alternative symbol (when there might otherwise be a risk of confusion with the pound-force) is lbm (for most pound definitions), # ( chiefly in the U.S.), and or ̶ (specifically for the apothecaries' pound). The unit is descended from the Roman (hence the symbol ''lb'', descended from the scribal abbreviation, '). The English word ''pound'' comes from the Roman ('the weight measured in '), and is cognate with, among others, German , Dutch , and Swedish . These units are now designated as historical and are no longer in common usage, being replaced by the metric system. Usage of the un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grain (measure)
A grain is a unit of measurement of mass, and in the troy weight, avoirdupois, and apothecaries' systems, equal to exactly . It is nominally based upon the mass of a single ideal seed of a cereal. From the Bronze Age into the Renaissance, the average masses of wheat and barley grains were part of the legal definitions of units of mass. Expressions such as "thirty-two grains of wheat, taken from the middle of the ear" appear to have been ritualistic formulas. Another source states that it was defined such that 252.458 units would balance of distilled water at an ambient air-water pressure and temperature of and respectively. Another book states that Captain Henry Kater, of the British Standards Commission, arrived at this value experimentally. The grain was the legal foundation of traditional English weight systems, and is the only unit that is equal throughout the troy, avoirdupois, and apothecaries' systems of mass. The unit was based on the weight of a single grain of barl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pound Sterling
Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency generally, often qualified in international contexts as the British pound or the pound sterling. Sterling is the world's oldest currency in continuous use since its inception. In 2022, it was the fourth-most-traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro, and the Japanese yen. Together with those three currencies and the renminbi, it forms the basket of currencies that calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights. As of late 2022, sterling is also the fourth most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The Bank of England is the central bank for sterling, issuing its own banknotes and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling banknotes issu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
