Pound (Sax. pund, Ger. pfund, Lat. pondus, 'weight'), long the unit of weight in the western and central states of Europe, differing, however, in value in all of them. The symbol 'lb.' for it is equally general, and is derived from the Latin word libra. The old English pound, which is said to have been the standard of weight from the time of William the Conqueror till that of Henry VII., was derived from the weight of 7680 grains of wheat, all taken from the middle of the ear, and well dried. For the difference between the present avoirdupois and troy pound, see AVOIRDUPOIS, WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. In the British Pharmacopœia of 1864 the troy ounce was given up, and the pound avoirdupois and the ounce avoirdupois were adopted. See also LIVRE, MARK.
The pound weight of silver, a common money standard among the ancient Romans, was introduced by them into the countries they conquered, and thus the term 'pound' became a designation of a certain amount of coined money. Thus, nowadays, the English pound is considered as something (a coin or otherwise) equivalent to 20 shillings, but originally it denoted the pound of silver which was coined into 20 shillings. From Edward II.'s time the coins were more and more diminished in size, that monarch coining 25 shillings from a pound of silver; while from the same weight of bullion his various successors coined 30, 45, 48, 96, 144, 288, in the time of Elizabeth 60, and under George I. 66 shillings to the pound of silver, and this rate still continues, the term 'pound' being severed from its original meaning, and signifying 20 shillings of the present coinage. The sovereign of gold was first struck under Henry VII.; its value rose to as much as 30 shillings; under Charles II. it was fixed at 21 shillings, and the sovereign was superseded by the Guinea (q.v.) till 1817 (see MONEY, MINT). The pound Scots, originally of the same value as the English one, sank in value after 1355 till in 1600 it was but one-twelfth of the value of the English pound, and was accordingly worth 1s. 8d.; it was divided into twenty shillings, each worth an English penny. The Treaty of Union provided that the money thereafter used should be of the same standard and fineness throughout the United Kingdom.