Hand Me an 8-Denarius Nail, Please
Kirt's Cogitations™ #148

RF Cafe University"Factoids," "Kirt's Cogitations," and "Tech Topics Smorgasbord" are all manifestations of my ranting on various subjects relevant (usually) to the overall RF Cafe theme. All may be accessed on these pages:

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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.