or **Penny**, in commerce, an ancient English coin, which had formerly considerable currency; but is now generally dwindled into an imaginary money, or money of account. Camden derives the word from the Latin *pecunia*, "money."

The Ancient English penny, penig, or pening, was the first silver coin struck in England; nay, and the only one current among our Saxon ancestors: as is agreed by Camden, Spelman, Dr Hicks, &c.

The penny was equal in weight to our three-pence; five of them made one thilling, or scilling Saxon; 30 a mark or mancuse, equal to 7s. 6d.

Till the time of King Edw. I. the penny was struck with a crofs, so deeply indented in it, that it might be easily broke, and parted, on occasion, into two parts, thence called half-pennies; or into four, thence called fourthings or farthings.—But that prince coined it without indentation, in lieu of which, he first struck round halfpence and farthings.

He also reduced the weight of the penny to a standard; ordering that it should weigh 32 grains of wheat, taken out of the middle of the ear.—This penny was called the penny sterling.—Twenty of these pence were to weigh an ounce; whence the penny became a weight as well as a coin. See Sterling and Penny-Weight.

The penny sterling was long disused as a coin; and was scarce known, but as a money of account, containing the twelfth part of a shilling; but of late years it has been introduced into the British current coin.

**Penny**, in ancient statutes, &c. is used for all silver money. And hence the ward-penny, over-penny, hundred-penny, tithing-penny, and brothal-penny.

**Penny-Weight**, a Troy weight, containing twenty-four grains; each grain weighing a grain of wheat gathered out of the middle of the ear, well dried. The name took its rise hence, that this was anciently the weight of one of our ancient silver pennies. See Penny.

Twenty of these penny-weights make an ounce Troy.

**Penrith**, an ancient town of the county of Cumberland in England, seated under a hill called Penrith-Fell, near the rivers Eamont and Lowther. It is a great thoroughfare for travellers; but has little other trade, except tanning, and a small manufacture of checks. Formerly it had a castle, but it is now in ruins. In the churchyard is a monument of great antiquity, consisting of two stone pillars 11 feet 6 inches high, and 5 in circumference in the lower part, which is rounded; the upper is square, and tapers to a point; in the square part is some fretwork, and the relievo of a crofs; and on the interior side of one is the faint representation of some animal. But these stones are mortified at their lower part into a round one: they are about 15 feet asunder, and the space between them is inclosed on each side with two very large but thin semicircular stones; so that there is left between pillar and pillar a walk of two feet in breadth. Two of these lesser stones are plain, the others have certain figures, at present scarcely intelligible. Not far from these pillars is another called the giant's thumb, five feet eight inches high, with an expanded head, perforated on both sides; from the middle the stone rises again into a lesser head, rounded at top; but no part has a tendency to the figure of a crofs, being in no part mutilated. The pillars are said to have been set up in memory of Sir Owen Cæfurius, a famous war-