Pound (mass) a legal unit for trade (it was abolished in the United Kingdom on 6 January 1879 by the Weights and Measures Act of 1878), but the troy ounce, of a troy pound, is still used for measurements of gems such as opals, and precious metals such as silver, platinum and particularly gold. The system called Tower weight was the more general name for King Offa's pound. This dates to 757 AD and was based on the silver penny. This in turn was struck over Arabic dirhams (2d). The pound was based on the weight of 120 Arabic silver dirhams, which
Economic reforms under Peter the Great small copper coins. The silver coins were quite large and were often cut into several parts, each part having its own turnover. As part of the monetary reform in the year 1704, a new, simple decimal system was introduced. Instead of the weight, each coin was valued by its decimal number. Eventually, Europe also started using this system, but it was much later. Minting of coins became the unconditional monopoly of the state. There were also gold coins, but they were mostly used for ceremonial purposes, as a reward to the soldiers. The ban on export of precious metals was