Daily AncestorPenny
A penny (plural pence, written d.) was the smallest common unit of the old money: 12 pence made a shilling and 240 pence made a pound.
The d. stands for the Latin denarius, a Roman coin, which is why pence are written with a d and not a p. Old accounts often run the three units together, so £3.10.06 means three pounds, ten shillings and sixpence.
In colonial records a penny is usually a penny of local currency. Later, Americans used penny as the everyday name for the cent, so a penny in a letter or account from the 1800s may simply mean one cent.
As seen in a recordMerchant's ledger, 1770s
To 1 lb. loaf sugar ... 0. 1. 9
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Penny." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/money-measures/penny. Last checked 2026-10-03.