Coins of the pound sterling also became known as a "pound". (240 actual pennies, however, weighed only 5400 troy grains, known as tower pound, a unit used only by mints. The tower pound was abolished in the 16th century.) The silver penny remained the primary unit of coinage for about 500 years. The purity of 92.5% silver (i.e., sterling silver) was instituted by Henry II in 1158 with the "Tealby Penny" — a hammered coin. Over the years, the penny was gradually debased until by the 16th century it contained about a third the silver content of a proper troy 24 grain pennyweight. By 1915,
Five Grains Five Grains The Five Grains or Cereals (Chinese: , , "Wǔ Gǔ") are a grouping (or set of groupings) of five farmed crops that were all important in ancient China. Sometimes the crops themselves were regarded as sacred; other times, their cultivation was regarded as a sacred boon from a mythological or supernatural source. More generally, "wǔgǔ" can be employed in Chinese as a synecdoche referring to "all" grains or staple crops of which the end produce is of a granular nature. The identity of the five grains has varied over time, with different authors identifying different grains or even