pound troy

1 definition found

pound troy - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Pound \Pound\, n.; pl. Pounds, collectively Pound or
     Pounds. [AS. pund, fr. L. pondo, akin to pondus a weight,
     pendere to weigh. See Pendant.]
     1. A certain specified measure of mass or weight; especially,
        a legal standard consisting of an established number of
        ounces.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The pound in general use in the United States and in
           England is the pound avoirdupois, which is divided
           into sixteen ounces, and contains 7,000 grains (0.453
           kilogram). The pound troy is divided into twelve
           ounces, and contains 5,760 grains. 144 pounds
           avoirdupois are equal to 175 pounds troy weight. See
           Avoirdupois, and Troy.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A British denomination of money of account, equivalent to
        twenty shillings sterling, and equal in value to about
        $4.86 in 1900 and $1.50 in 2002. The modern pound coin was
        introduced in 1983. Formerly there was a gold sovereign of
        the same value.
        [1913 Webster + PJC]
  
     Note: The pound sterling was in Saxon times, about a. d. 671,
           a pound troy of silver, and a shilling was its
           twentieth part; consequently the latter was three times
           as large as it is at present. --Peacham.
           [1913 Webster]