In the United States, a "hundredweight" (abbreviated as cwt) is a unit of weight or mass used in various industries, especially in agriculture and commerce. The hundredweight is equivalent to 100 pounds (lbs). It is often used to express weights or quantities of goods, particularly in contexts like the sale of agricultural products, grains, and some industrial materials.
1 hundredweight (US) = 100 pounds (lbs)
Hundredweights are commonly used in trade and commerce, especially for bulk items where the use of pounds or tons may not be as convenient. It provides a middle-ground unit for measuring weight between the pound and the ton. When you see prices or quantities listed in hundredweights in the United States, it means that they are referring to units of 100 pounds each.
The shekel in Biblical Hebrew is a unit of weight and currency that is smaller than both the talent and the mina. It was commonly used for trade and transactions and had different values depending on the historical era and location. In some contexts, it was equivalent to 20 gerahs.