# What do pennies measure in a nail? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649 "2016-03-01T16:39:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/1 "2016-03-01T16:39:52Z")
You often see nails marked in both inches and pennies. What does the penny measure? Is it related to the antiquated unit of pennyweights? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/2 "2016-03-01T16:43:53Z")
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail\_(fastener)#United\_States\_penny\_sizes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_(fastener)#United_States_penny_sizes) This may help. More pennies is longer, but no strict correlation. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/3 "2016-03-01T17:35:20Z")
It’s a measure of how many pennies it costs to get a hundred nails. Or used to cost, like six hundred years ago, in England. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/4 "2016-03-01T17:38:46Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > It’s a measure of how many pennies it costs to get a hundred nails. Or used to cost, like six hundred years ago, in England. And it was the [long hundred](https://sizes.com/units/hundred.htm) (i.e. 120), not our usual 10^2 hundred. (That is, the hundred in the number of nails, not the hundred in the number of years). ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/5 "2016-03-02T05:00:39Z")
Thanks, **Quercus,** for the Wikipedia link. Now I know that a 10-penny nail is 3" long. When I was a boy, a friend played a record of a comedian (Brother Dave something) who had a bit with a glorious bit of language in it. “…I’m gon’ hit you so hard, you’re gonna hum like a ten-penny finishin’ nail been hit by a greasy ball peen hammer.” I hope I remembered that accurately. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/6 "2016-03-02T05:21:52Z")
I don’t think finishing nails are sold in penny sizes, just common nails. But I suppose _finishin’ nail_ sounds funnier. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/7 "2016-03-02T06:09:18Z")
And to make it even _more_ confusing, the “penny size” is designated by a “d”, which is from the Latin “dinarius”. So if you’re looking for 6-penny nails, you look under 6d (not 6p) in the hardware store. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/8 "2016-03-02T08:00:55Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > And to make it even _more_ confusing, the “penny size” is designated by a “d”, which is from the Latin “dinarius”. So if you’re looking for 6-penny nails, you look under 6d (not 6p) in the hardware store. That “d” was the normal abbreviation for “penny/pence” in the sense of coins/money as well, before money was decimalised in the UK. So “6d” in money was half a shilling. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/9 "2016-03-02T09:15:53Z")
I remember when I was younger, taking a while to work out why a pound of nails was always the same price, regardless of the size. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/10 "2016-03-02T14:53:08Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > That “d” was the normal abbreviation for “penny/pence” in the sense of coins/money as well, before money was decimalised in the UK. So “6d” in money was half a shilling. Emphasis added. When was that? Just wondering. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/11 "2016-03-02T15:04:48Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Emphasis added. When was that? Just wondering. On [Decimal Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_Day). ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/12 "2016-03-02T15:16:34Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I don’t think finishing nails are sold in penny sizes, just common nails. But I suppose _finishin’ nail_ sounds funnier. I still have some boxes of finish nails, bought within the past ten years, that are marked 4d and 5d. From what I see on the Lowes site, they now refer to them only in inches. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/13 "2016-03-02T16:48:18Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > On [Decimal Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_Day). Wow… decimal currency and no more rum in the navy, all within a 8 month span. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/14 "2016-03-02T16:57:04Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I remember when I was younger, taking a while to work out why a pound of nails was always the same price, regardless of the size. That same general approach was used for lots of other things back in the day. A 12 guage shotgun is larger than a 20 guage shotgun. Because you can cast a pound of lead into either 12 larger balls or 20 smaller ones. Wire gauges are similar. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-pennies-measure-in-a-nail/747649/15 "2016-03-02T23:57:38Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > That same general approach was used for lots of other things back in the day. > > A 12 guage shotgun is larger than a 20 guage shotgun. Because you can cast a pound of lead into either 12 larger balls or 20 smaller ones. > > Wire gauges are similar. A 12-count shrimp is bigger than a 20-count shrimp. Same reason. But shell-packing as a mathematical problem is for different shells.