Editing Pound (mass) (section)

===== Imperial Standard Pound =====
In the United Kingdom, weights and measures have been defined by a long series of Acts of Parliament, the intention of which has been to regulate the sale of commodities. Materials traded in the marketplace are quantified according to accepted units and standards in order to avoid fraud. The standards themselves are legally defined so as to facilitate the resolution of disputes brought to the courts; only legally defined measures will be recognised by the courts. Quantifying devices used by traders (weights, weighing machines, containers of volumes, measures of length) are subject to official inspection, and penalties apply if they are fraudulent.

The [[Weights and Measures Act 1878]] ([[41 & 42 Vict.]] c. 49) marked a major overhaul of the British system of weights and measures, and the definition of the pound given there remained in force until the 1960s. The pound was defined thus (Section 4) "The ... platinum weight ... deposited in the Standards department of the Board of Trade ... shall continue to be the imperial standard of ... weight ... and the said platinum weight shall continue to be the Imperial Standard for determining the Imperial Standard Pound for the United Kingdom". Paragraph 13 states that the weight {{lang|la|in vacuo}} of this standard shall be called the Imperial Standard Pound, and that all other weights mentioned in the act and permissible for commerce shall be ascertained from it alone. The first schedule of the act gave more details of the standard pound: it is a platinum cylinder nearly {{convert|1.35|in|mm}} high, and {{convert|1.15|in|mm}} diameter, and the edges are carefully rounded off. It has a groove about {{convert|0.34|in|mm}} from the top, to allow the cylinder to be lifted using an ivory fork. It was constructed following the destruction of the Houses of Parliament by fire in 1834, and is stamped "P.S. 1844, 1&nbsp;lb" (P.S. stands for "Parliamentary Standard").

{{English pounds}}

{{See also|English units}}