PENNY

, formerly a piece of silver coin, but now an imaginary sum, equal to two copper coins called a halfpenny.

The Penny was the first silver coin struck in England by our Saxon ancestors, being the 240th part of their pound, and its true weight was about 22 1/2 grains Troy.

In Etheldred's time, the Penny was the 20th part of the Troy ounce, and equal in weight to our three pence; which value it retained till the time of Edward the Third.

Till the time of King Edward the First, the Penny was struck with a cross so deeply sunk in it, that it might, on occasion, be easily broken, and parted into two halves, thence called Halfpennies; or into four, thence called Fourthings, or Farthings. But that Prince coined it without the cross; instead of which he struck round Halfpence and Farthings. Though there are said to be instances of such round Halfpence having been made in the reign of Henry the First, if not also in that of the two Williams.

Edward the First also reduced the weight of the Penny to a standard; ordering that it should weigh <*>2 grains of wheat, taken out of the middle of the ear. This Penny was called the Penny Sterling; and 20 of them were to weigh an ounce; whence the Penny became a weight as well as a coin.

By the 9th of Edward the Third, it was diminished to the 26th part of the Troy ounce; by the 2d of Henry the Sixth it was the 32d part; by the 5th of Edward the Fourth, it became the 40th, and also by the 36th of Henry the Eighth, and afterwards, the 45th; but by the 2d of Elizabeth, 60 Pence were coined out of the ounce, and during her reign 62, which last proportion is still observed in our times.

The Penny Sterling is now disused as a coin; and scarce subsists, but as a money of account, containing two copper Halfpence, or the 12th part of a shilling, or the 240th part of a pound.

The French Penny, or Denier, is of two kinds; the Paris Penny, called Denier Parisis; and the Penny of Tours, called Denier Tournois.

The Dutch Penny, called Pennink, or Pening, is a real money, worth about one-fifth more than the French Penny Tournois. The Pennink is also used as a money of account, in keeping books by pounds, florins, and patards; 12 Penninks make the patard, and 20 patards the florin.

At Hamburg, Nuremberg, &c, the Penny or Pfennig of account is equal to the French Penny Tournois. Of these, 8 make the krieuk; and 60 the florin of those cities; also 90 the French crown, or 4s 6d sterling.

Penny-Weight, a Troy weight, being the 20th part of an ounce, containing 24 grains; each grain weighing a grain of wheat gathered out of the middle of the ear, well dried. The name took its rise from its being actually the weight of one of our ancient silver Pennies. See the foregoing article.

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Entry taken from A Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary, by Charles Hutton, 1796.

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PELL (Dr. John)
PENDULUM
PENETRABILITY
PENETRATION
PENINSULA
* PENNY
PENTAGON
PENTAGRAPH
PENTANGLE
PENUMBRA
PERAMBULATOR