With reference to nails, the term penny indicates?

A. the shank design.


B. the unit cost.


C. the shape and size.


D. the coating or finish.With reference to nails, the term penny indicates?
C. the shape and size.





*In the US, the length and diameter of a nail is designated by its penny size. This unit's abbreviation is d (e.g. 10d for 10 penny nails), as for British pence before decimalization. A smaller number indicates a shorter, thinner nail and a larger number indicates a longer, thicker nail (e.g. common 10d nails are .148'; in diameter and 3'; long). Nails under 1录 in., often called brads, are sold mostly in small packages with only a length designation (e.g. 陆'; (12 mm), 1鈪?quot; (28 mm), etc.).





It is commonly believed that the origin of the term ';penny'; in relation to nail size is based on the old custom in England of selling nails by the hundred. A hundred nails that sold for six pence were ';six penny'; nails. The larger the nail, the more a hundred nails would cost, hence the larger nails have a larger number for their penny size.





This however is a false legend: the reference is instead to the nominal mass of the nail expressed in pennyweight (dwt), 1/20 of a Troy ounce. This, anciently, was the defined weight of a silver penny, 1/240 of a pound sterling. Although the pennyweight was officially abolished in the United Kingdom by the Weights and Measures Act 1878, its legacy continues in the classification of nails.