[TheForge] Fw: Ancient metallurgy - US Bicentennial Bloom

[Rowland Smuck]

Mike, the d in 10d comes from the Latin denarius that hung around in England
and was used in place of penny. Thats kind of like our abbreviation for
pound (lb) it comes from the latin libro.
Rowland of Roseburg, OR 97470
10 miles to the nearest Red Light
There is a very fine line between
"hobby" and "mental illness"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Spencer" <mspencer at tallships.ca>
To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 3:21 PM
Subject: [TheForge] Fw: Ancient metallurgy - US Bicentennial Bloom


>
> >> Can you imagine how low and stable the inflation rate must have been
> >> back when they named "ten penny" nails...
>
> > Can you also imagine how LOW and stable a workman's wages were.
>
> Considering that two or three hundred years ago, nails in industrial
> England were made by women while the men did *real work* in the mines
> or mills.  They had to buy the nail rod from the company store.  And
> *they* didn't get ten pence for 100 nails.  That was retail.
>
> BTW, you'd think that here in Canada where we still have a Queen and a
> Governor General [1] that the old British traditional usage would be
> standard.  But, although cartons of common nails come marked "10d",
> "20d" etc. (along with length & type), I have yet to meet a carpenter
> that knows what 10d  means.  They refer to nails by length: 2" common,
> 2-1/2" galvanized and so on and look blank if you ask for "10 penny
> nails".
>
> - Mike
>
> [1] It is politically incorrect to refer to her as the Governess
> General. :-)
>
> --
> Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
>                                                            /V\
> mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
> http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^
>
> --
>
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