On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 19:39:53 GMT, Richard Clark
wrote:

Hi All,

Star Avoirdupois Pound
http://museum.nist.gov/object.asp?ObjID=10

Hassler constructed troy pounds and avoirdupois pounds, for
distribution to the custom-houses and to the States. The mass of a
troy pound is 0.82286 of an avoirdupois pound's mass. The troy pound
is used for determining the mass of precious metals. Hassler used the
troy pound of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, procured in London in
1827 by Albert Gallatin, to derive both types of standards. It is
likely that the Star Avoirdupois Pound (so named because of the star
inscribed on top of its knob) is the avoirdupois pound that was
directly derived from the Mint Pound by Hassler.

http://museum.nist.gov/exhibits/ex1/Room2.html
Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler was appointed the first Superintendent of
the Survey of the Coast by President Madison in 1816.
Born in Aarau, Switzerland in 1770, Hassler emigrated to the United
States in 1805.


Gene Nygaard
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Gene_Nygaard/