My understanding is that in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the coinage in both the United Kingdom and in the newly independent republics in North America was shaky, but the legacy of a single system of units of measure imposed by the Tudors lived on. The result is that the system of weights and measures that we use can be traced back to Tudor times and earlier, whereas the coinage system was started from scratch. I believe that I am correct when I say that the origin of the $ symbol was an "8" with a line through it, derived from the Spanish pieces of eight.
_____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bill Potts Sent: 15 March 2009 22:47 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:43933] RE: EU Metric Directive . snip Congress succeeded in regulating the coinage long ago. Imagine if the current, shaky state of the US economy were compounded by having variations in currency from state to state. That they have failed to do as will with the standard of weights and measures would seem to be related to a point of view that is vastly more libertarian (and less fair) than with what I see Stephen as advocating. .snip
