Penny (unit)

In the United States, the length of a nail is designated by its penny size, written with a number and the abbreviation d for penny; for example, 10d for a ten-penny nail. A larger number indicates a longer nail, shown in the table below. Nails under 1 ¹⁄₄ inch, often called brads, are sold mostly in small packages with only a length designation or with length and wire gauge designations; for example, 1″ 18 ga or ³⁄₄″ 16 ga.

Penny sizes originally referred to the price for a long hundred nails in England in the 13th century:^[1] the larger the nail, the higher the cost per long hundred.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] The system remained in use in England into the 20th century, but is obsolete there today. The d is an abbreviation for denarius, a Roman coin similar to a penny; this was the abbreviation for a penny in the UK before decimalisation.

penny size	length (inches)	length (nearest mm)
2d	1	25
3d	1 ¹⁄₄	32
4d	1 ¹⁄₂	38
5d	1 ³⁄₄	44
6d	2	51
7d	2 ¹⁄₄	57
8d	2 ¹⁄₂	65
9d	2 ³⁄₄	70
10d	3	76
12d	3 ¹⁄₄	83
16d	3 ¹⁄₂	89
20d	4	102
30d	4 ¹⁄₂	115
40d	5	127
50d	5 ¹⁄₂	140
60d	6	152

References

↑ D. Nutt (1890). Archaeological Review: Volume 4. p. 322. In this connexion it is interesting to reflect that the proverbial "tenpenny nail" was a nail sold at 10d. for the long hundred.
↑ "Penny" (subscription required). Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Retrieved 2010-05-30. Applied to nails, such adjectives denote the original price (in 15th c.) per hundred; as fivepenny nail, a nail which cost 5d. a hundred, tenpenny nail, a nail costing 10d. a hundred. (These names persisted after the prices fell, as they began to do in some places before 1500, and they were eventually used to designate sizes of nails.)
↑ H. Littlehales (1905). Medieval Rec. London City ChurchCited in the Oxford English Dictionary under "Penny" with a quote from 1426-1427.
↑ "Penny". sizes.com. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
↑ Norman Scott Brien Gras (1918). The Early English Customs System. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA). p. 701. Cited at sizes.com with a quote from 1507.

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[1] D. Nutt (1890). Archaeological Review: Volume 4. p. 322. In this connexion it is interesting to reflect that the proverbial "tenpenny nail" was a nail sold at 10d. for the long hundred.

[2] "Penny" (subscription required). Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Retrieved 2010-05-30. Applied to nails, such adjectives denote the original price (in 15th c.) per hundred; as fivepenny nail, a nail which cost 5d. a hundred, tenpenny nail, a nail costing 10d. a hundred. (These names persisted after the prices fell, as they began to do in some places before 1500, and they were eventually used to designate sizes of nails.)

[3] H. Littlehales (1905). Medieval Rec. London City ChurchCited in the Oxford English Dictionary under "Penny" with a quote from 1426-1427.

[4] "Penny". sizes.com. Retrieved 2010-01-10.

[5] Norman Scott Brien Gras (1918). The Early English Customs System. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA). p. 701. Cited at sizes.com with a quote from 1507.