Piece measure

A piece measure is a designation within the system of measurement that designates a certain number (at least 1) of a certain defined quantity of a good. A product determined with a piece size can be checked by counting the pieces and determining the correct size of the individual pieces. Therefore the term counting measure is also used.

Piece sizes are uncommon today, but were part of most local systems of measurement in the Middle Ages and into the 19th century. An example of this are the Speyer counting and piece measurements:

Speyrer dimensions

In the Middle Ages, larger cities had their own measuring systems that also included unit sizes for goods that were frequently traded locally. One example is the city of Speyer , which had piece dimensions for straw , hay , bundles of wood and herrings .

Speyrer counting and piece measurements

items	Counting measure	about	Remarks
Straw measure	Evil, covenant or bond	8,000 gram container	around 1802
hay	dare	about 18-25 quintals	from 1647 to 1737
Bundle wood	Bundle, bundle of waves, Reisach	100
Pegs	One hundred	120 pieces	3 litters of 40 pieces each = 120 pieces
Pegs	role	400 pieces
Compass pegs	ton	850 to 900 pieces
Branding pegs	ton	1,000 to 1,100 pieces
Pegs	Load	12,000 pieces (approx.)	12 tons of pegs

http://www.digitalis.uni-koeln.de/Schnapperar/schnapperar_1_75-84.pdf

swell

1. ^ Fritz Klotz: Speyer Small City History . District group Speyer of the Historical Association of the Palatinate, 1971, 4th exp. Edition, pages 67, 68

See also

• old counting measures
• General cargo is about different sized pieces of goods.