Imperial and US customary measurement systems in 1824, to take effect in 1826) and United States customary units which evolved from English Units from 1776 onwards. The earliest records of English units of measure involve the weight (and therefore the value) of Saxon coins. The penny introduced by Offa was about 20 grains (1.296 g). Edward the Elder increased the weight of the English penny to 26 grains (1.685 g), thereby aligning it with the penny of Charlemagne. By the time of the Norman Conquest (1066), it had decreased to 24 grains (1.555 g). This value was subsequently called the "pennyweight" and formed the basis of
Pennyweight the alternative drams and grains measurement has been used since a new set of scales was purchased by the Egton Bridge Old Gooseberry Society in 1937. As of 2018, the world record for the heaviest gooseberry of 41 dwt 11 gr was held by Kelvin Archer of Cheshire. The most common abbreviation for pennyweight is "dwt"; "d", for the Roman "denarius", was the abbreviation for "penny" before Decimalization of the British monetary system. Alternate abbreviations are "pwt" and "PW". Although the abbreviations are the same, the pennyweight bears no relation to the weight of the American penny nail. That name