Should a fraction of an ounce be abbreviated as "ozs." or "oz?"
CaptHenway
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This week's Coin World has a nice write up on Roger Burdette's new book on the Saudi gold disks of the 1940's and other tales about the U.S. Mint. In the writeup there is this illustration of a "One Pound" Saudi gold disk, the picture courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
The weight is given as ".2354 TROY OZS." The Editor in my bones questions whether a fraction of an ounce should be given a plural abbreviation. Why not ".2354 TROY OZ.?"
Is there an English Teacher amongst us who can comment?
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Comments
oz. sounds correct though it might be grammatically wrong.
It should be "oz" when used with a fraction of an ounce. Would you say "a half dollars" or "a quarter ounces"?
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Personally, If I'm referring to, for example, a silver bar that weighs five troy ounces, I've always typed or written it as "5oz silver bar". However, if I were using the plural form of the words "ounce", I would instead type/write it as "this silver bar weighs 5 troy ounces". Basically, if the word is "ounces", I write "ounces". If the word is "ounce", I write "oz".
Perhaps this isn't formally accurate, but I too always found "ozs" to appear odd when written out. FWIW, I've also been known to type "ozt" to specify "troy ounces" as well. I am, again, uncertain of the correctness of this abbreviation.
Oz.
Oz.
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Not an English teacher but in my opinion it's oz. because it is less than an ounce. If it is more than one ounce then the plural should apply 😉
ozs
https://www.allacronyms.com/ozs/ounces#:~:text=What is the abbreviation for ounces? ounces is,ozs (also OZ, oz, Oz., ozs. or oz.)
There are almost certainly exceptions. However, I did several searches, and although I saw a lot of instances in which measurements in excess of 1 oz were still listed as “oz”, not “ozs”, I didn’t see any where a fraction of an ounce was listed as “ozs”.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
When spoken, fractions are usually singular when expressed as a fraction, but when expressed using decimal notation, it is plural.
We say "half an ounce" but would say "zero point five ounces". That's because "half an ounce" is a contraction for "half of one ounce", and "ounce" there is singular. The decimal point notation is always plural, even if the amount expressed is singular; for example saying "1.000 oz" would be "one point zero zero zero ounces".
However, as I've just noted, the plural abbreviation of "ounces" is always "oz", not "ozs". Unit abbreviations are never pluralized.
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Oz. Basically those were cobbled together in a hurry because we needed gold bullion coins quickly. The Saudis preferred Sovereigns but there weren’t enough because so many had Victoria on them and the Saudis didn’t want coins with a woman on them. Funny that even desert nomads most of whom had never set foot in a school had better sense than to accept paper money. Edit someday I gotta get me one of those.
oz
They’re off to see the Ozians (Ozns.) 😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Oz.
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Oz
"oz". You don't say Quarter of an "OUNCES" - It's Quarter of an "OUNCE".
I kinda like this newer version too.............
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Oz.
Been to "Oz" three times - loved it.
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The S is for San Francisco
You know just a little rubbing it in because they were minted in Philadelphia.
Did anyone ask Roger Burdette?
Well, in my case, either way, I know what they mean. This issue is just not significant enough to affect my sleep, nor to waste caloric energy in worry...
Yes, I will accept an ounce (ozt) or ounces (ozst) of gold, should anyone be feeling generous... 
Cheers, RickO
Should be oz. I think an "S" was added to make it seem like more
Oh, I agree that in the great scheme of things this is the equivalent of saying "ain't." Technically wrong, but everybody knows what you mean and nobody got hurt in the process. But as I said I has done some Editorisment in my time, and it just looks wrong to me.
Anyways, Burdette's book "Saudi Gold and other Tales from the Mint" is currently available from Wizard Coin Supply. I have no financial interest in the book, I just liked the sections I reviewed in advance.
TD
Unless the weight is an adjective and not a noun.
I have 0.2354 ounces of gold.
0.2354 ounces of gold fell out of my pocket.
I have a 0.2354 ounce gold coin.
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@CaptHenway ... For sure, I can understand your point... I was just making light of the issue. In the area I work in (firearms), terminology get misused often, (i.e. the term clip for what is a magazine) and it does bother me. Cheers, RickO
So you work in a clip joint???
@CaptHenway....
Yep, you could say that..... Cheers, RickO
First time I recall seeing ozs.
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