Tell us something we don’t know.

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Nails. What does "penny" mean?
THE PENNY SYSTEM

Understanding the penny nail requires a look back to England in the late Middle Ages. In the 1400s, the price of 120 nails was measured in pennies, or “pence.” Like today, larger nails sold for higher prices.

The penny number is simply the price of 120 nails of a given length in historic England. Though the exact timing and circumstances are lost to history, what started as simple, standard pricing for various lengths of hand-forged nails became a naming convention that would last for more than 500 years and counting.

On the low end, 1-inch nails were sold for 2 pence per 120 nails. That’s how 2-penny or 2d came to describe nails that are 1 inch in length. On the high end, six-inch nails were sold for about 60 pence per 120 nails, which is why 60-penny or 60d nails refer to 6-inch nails today.

From 2d to 16d nails, the penny size increases by one to two for every ¼-inch of length added to the nail. For 20d nails and longer, the penny size increases by 10 per ½-inch of length. Here is a handy chart for reference – if you’re new to penny sizes, you can print it out and place it on your toolbox.

WHAT DOES THE “D” MEAN?

In writing, the word “penny” is typically abbreviated as “d.” This is a reference to the Latin name of the most common silver coin used in ancient Rome, the denarius. When speaking, most people pronounce the “d” as “penny.”

 

[WinterDeere]

I'd say 80% of the jobs I've had were at least partially because I knew someone on the inside.

I got the internship that kicked off a career in engineering, because I was a good drummer, and the interviewer was a keyboardist in a band looking for a drummer.

 

[WinterDeere]

Nails. What does "penny" mean?
THE PENNY SYSTEM...

I think most of this is true, but to add to it, "D" comes from the Latin "denarius", which the old Brits adopted from their Roman rulers. If you look at English currency prior to decimation, they used an L/s/d (yeah... "LSD"! ) system. "D" was for "pence", or "penny" in our system.

One of the several tools we use for determining the age of very old homes (for USA) is the nail tech. Speaking broadly, forged nails = 1700's, cut nails = 1800's, wire nails = 1900's, nail gun = 2000's.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I think most of this is true, but to add to it, "D" comes from the Latin "denarius", which the old Brits adopted from their Roman rulers. If you look at English currency prior to decimation, they used an L/s/d (yeah... "LSD"! ) system. "D" was for "pence", or "penny" in our system.

One of the several tools we use for determining the age of very old homes (for USA) is the nail tech. Speaking broadly, forged nails = 1700's, cut nails = 1800's, wire nails = 1900's, nail gun = 2000's.

I did post about denarius.
Years ago I found a lot of forged nails in my front yard when metal detecting. They were wrapped in some kind of cloth that fell apart.
I'm thinking people saved nails years ago to build other things.

 

[WinterDeere]

I'm thinking people saved nails years ago to build other things.

Definitely. Wrought nails were crazy-expensive, so they were almost always saved and re-used. Cut nails knocked the cost down something like 10x, and so less of those were saved. Wire nails were even cheaper.

People look at wood-pegged timber framed homes from the 1600-1700's, and sometimes wrongly assumed they were built "before nails", which is totally untrue. The reality is that it was just cheaper to pay an apprentice to sit and whittle wood pegs, than to buy expensive hand-wrought nails.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

A friend lives in a cabin on the family farm. Built in mid 1600s according to him. It has a loft accessible by walking up (I don't know proper term) "logs" sticking out of the back wall, no railing. Step tops are flat (hewn?).
It's near Concord, Va.

 

[Jstpssng]

The reality is that it was just cheaper to pay an apprentice to sit and whittle wood pegs, than to buy expensive hand-wrought nails

Or you could do it at night while watching TV.

 

[MossRoad]

But hasn't it always been that way, or at least a combination of what & who?
I'd say 80% of the jobs I've had were at least partially because I knew someone on the inside.

Sure. I got my foot in the door with all three of my full time jobs because I knew someone. The first one was unskilled; I knew the owner. The second one was highly skilled; the publisher remembered my family name. My current one is unskilled; I knew someone that asked the hiring department to take a look at my application. Once I got my foot in the doors, my resume had to do the talking to get me an interview. Then I talked my way in.

But even with that, my first two jobs still had a good makeup of people that reflected the local community. My current one isn't even close.

 

[MossRoad]

I did post about denarius.
Years ago I found a lot of forged nails in my front yard when metal detecting. They were wrapped in some kind of cloth that fell apart.
I'm thinking people saved nails years ago to build other things.

Heck, I still do. Don't know why. Probably because my dad and grandpas did. I'm glad they don't sell metal coffee cans anymore.

 

[masseyrider]

My father worked construction in the off season.
He would drag home piles of used lumber.
It was my job on weekends to pull the nails and straighten them and sort them by size.
He built barns and a house without ever going to the hardware store for nails.