# 10 Penny Nails

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-penny-nails/7920>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 29, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-penny-nails/7920 "2000-02-29T22:23:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [February 29, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-penny-nails/7920/1 "2000-02-29T22:23:00Z")

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This should be a quick one.

What does the measurement used for nails indicate, and why use the term penny?

Does the measurement describe the weight, length, head size, head type, circumference?

Any useless information about nals I should know while we’re at it?

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**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\
**Post date:** [February 29, 2000, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-penny-nails/7920/2 "2000-02-29T23:16:00Z")

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Have you been visiting your local hardware store, Omni?

Webster’s, once again, says it is for a specified _length_. In the etymology it says the term is derived from the original price per hundred.

Turning over to the entry for _tenpenny nail_ we discover that they are 3 inches long.

_Sixpenny nails_ are “about two inches long”, while \*eightpenny nails are “typically 2-1/2 inches long”.

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he sleeps on that pile/of newspapers/in the corner/and when he  
takes off his/shoes you cannot/smell his breath  
“king nicky”, _archyology_  
Don Marquis

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [February 29, 2000, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-penny-nails/7920/3 "2000-02-29T23:22:00Z")

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From [http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictP.html](http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictP.html) :

> [@](#):
>
> **-penny**  
> an ending added to a number to indicate the size of a nail, as in “sixpenny nail” or “tenpenny nail.” It’s not clear exactly how this terminology began, although the usual guess is that tenpenny nails originally cost ten pence per hundred.  
> There is, very roughly, a linear relation between the size designations and length: an n-penny nail is roughly (1/2) + (1/4)_n_ inches long. This makes the tenpenny nail about 3 inches long, the eightpenny about 2.5 inches, and so on.

* * *

Tom~

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**Author:** ![Ezstrete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@Ezstrete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ezstrete)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-penny-nails/7920/4 "2000-03-01T06:29:00Z")

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tomndeb are correct------the original expression was “ten a penny” or 'six a penny"—the number per penny was governed by the size.

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**Author:** ![frolix8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@frolix8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frolix8)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-penny-nails/7920/5 "2000-03-01T13:45:00Z")

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So 16 penny nails were cheaper than 8 penny?

That can’t be right. The cost per hundred makes sense.  
The term also applies to many kinds of nails, common, box, finishing, casing, etc. which have different shapes, so a 12 penny box isn’t the same as a 12 penny common.

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**Author:** ![Ezstrete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@Ezstrete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ezstrete)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-penny-nails/7920/6 "2000-03-01T16:13:00Z")

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For frolix

Point taken!