Carat (mass) quarters" of 15 grains troy each. Likewise, the ounce troy was divisible into 24 "ounce carats" of 20 grains troy each; the ounce carat was divisible into four "ounce grains" of 5 grains troy each; and the ounce grain was divisible into four "ounce quarters" of grains troy each. The "solidus" was also a Roman weight unit. There is literary evidence that the weight of 72 coins of the type called "solidus" was exactly 1 Roman pound, and that the weight of 1 "solidus" was 24 "siliquae". The weight of a Roman pound is generally believed to have been 327.45
Silver center cent of the new nation's coinage should be approximately equal to its face value. Some merchants would refuse to accept coins that did not meet this standard. For most denominations, bullion parity was achieved by producing the coins in a gold or silver alloy. However, the Coinage Act of 1792 specified that the cent was to consist of 11 pennyweight (264 grains or 17.1 g) of pure copper. Such a weight, needed to maintain intrinsic value, would have been too heavy for practical everyday use. U.S. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson suggested an alternative: a coin made of an alloy that