Hand Me an 8-Denarius Nail, Please
Ever wonder where
the "d" in an 8d nail comes from when referring to an 8-penny nail -- or for that
matter where the "penny" comes from? Well, the penny part is easy; it referred to
old England when 8 pennies would purchase a fixed number (probably 100) of that
size nails, 10 pennies would purchased the same quantity of 10-penny nails, and
so on for 4-penny, 6-penny, etc. The "d" goes way back to the time when the Romans
occupied England and the penny equivalent was the "denarius." Now you know.
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