[Sca-cooks] period measures

[Terry Decker]

Troy weights are based on the average weight of a grain of wheat.  24 grains
= 1 pennyweight (the weight of a silver penny),  20 pennyweights = 1 ounce
troy, 12 troy ounces = 1 pound troy.  In practice, the city fathers of
Troyes kept a set of standard weights and all weights in use at the great
fair were tested against the standards.  The rigid enforcement of the
standard made it a popular measure across Europe and the maintenance of the
weights at Troyes made it possible to produce matching weights for other
authorities to test scales in their jurisdiction.

As nation states became more powerful in Western Europe during the late
Middle Ages, most kept the form of the Troyes measure but established their
own standards.

Bear

>Bear commented:
>> Troy weights were the standard used to measure precious metals at the
great
>> fair in Troyes, France.  It was based on Roman weights and became the
>> standard for measuring precious metals in much of Europe.  One pound troy
is
>> 5,760 grains and has 12 ounces.  One pound avourdupois is 7000 grains and
>> has 16 ounces.  One ounce avdp is .911 troy ounces.  And 1 pound avdp is
1.2
>> pounds troy.  A troy ounce is about 31 to 32 grams.
>
>The metric and other modern measuring systems define their wieghts in terms
of
>some physical measurement that is the same anywhere under the same
conditions,
>  such as a particular wavelength of light or wieght of a particular
measure
>of water.
>You give a lot of conversions above, but what are they based upon? The
wieght
>of a particular piece of gold? The wieght of a particular volume of gold?
>
>
>Stefan