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A pennyweight (dwt) is a unit of mass equal to 24 grains, 1 ⁄ 20 of a troy ounce, 1 ⁄ 240 of a troy pound, approximately 0.054857 avoirdupois ounce [1] and exactly 1.55517384 grams. [2] It is abbreviated dwt , d standing for denarius – (an ancient Roman coin), and later used as the symbol of an old British penny (see £sd ).
The pennyweight symbol is dwt. One pennyweight weighs 24 grains, and 20 pennyweights make one troy ounce. [15] Because there were 12 troy ounces in the old troy pound, there would have been 240 pennyweights to the pound (mass) – just as there were 240 pennies in the original pound-sterling.
See Weight for detail of mass/weight distinction and conversion. Avoirdupois is a system of mass based on a pound of 16 ounces, while Troy weight is the system of mass where 12 troy ounces equals one troy pound. The symbol g 0 is used to denote standard gravity in order to avoid confusion with the (upright) g symbol for gram.
English-speaking countries also used a system of units of fluid measure, or in modern terminology volume units, based on the apothecaries' system. Originally, the terms and symbols used to describe the volume measurements of liquids were the same as or similar to those used to describe weight measurements of solids [33] (for example, the pound by weight and the fluid pint were both referred to ...
In either case, a London bushel was reckoned to contain 64 pounds, 12 ounces, 20 pennyweight, and 32 grains. These measures were based on the relatively light tower pound and were rarely used in Scotland, Ireland, or Wales during the Middle Ages.
The tower pound displayed as the weight of a pound sterling of 240 early silver pennies (original pennyweight) A tower pound is equal to 12 tower ounces and to 5,400 troy grains, which equals around 350 grams. [30] The tower pound is the historical weight standard that was used for England's coinage. [31]
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Another difference arose when Britain abolished the troy pound (373.241 7216 g) on 1 January 1879, leaving only the troy ounce (31.103 4768 g) and its decimal subdivisions, whereas the troy pound (of 12 troy ounces) and pennyweight are still legal in the United States, although they are no longer widely used.