Pennyweight Pennyweight A pennyweight (abbreviated dwt, from denarius weight) is a unit of mass that is equal to 24 grains, of a troy ounce, of a troy pound, approximately 0.054857 avoirdupois ounce and exactly 1.55517384 grams. In the Middle Ages, a British penny's weight was literally, as well as monetarily, of an ounce and of a pound of sterling silver. At that time, the pound in use was the Tower pound, equal to 7,680 Tower grains (also known as wheat grains). The medieval English pennyweight was thus equal to 32 Tower grains. When Troy weights replaced Tower weights in 1527, the
Actual silver weight $15.00 per troy ounce, the intrinsic value of a pre-1965 Roosevelt dime would be: 0.072339075 × 15.00 = $1.085086125 ≈ $1.09. (Note that coin stores, pawn shops, and bullion retailers will not necessarily purchase coins from consumers at the intrinsic value because of the costs involved with selling such coins to companies that melt the coins, separate the constituent metals, and prepare the silver for resale.) Actual silver weight Actual silver weight, usually abbreviated ASW, refers to the weight of pure silver contained in a coin, measured in troy ounces. Coin collectors, individuals who invest in bullion coins, and others