The use of this unofficial system gradually stabilized and evolved, with only slight changes in the reference standard or in the prototype's actual mass.Over time, the desire not to use too many different systems of measurement allowed the establishment of "value relationships", with other commodities metered and sold by weight measurements such as bulk goods (grains, ores, flax) and smelted metals, so the avoirdupois system gradually became an accepted standard through much of Europe.

In England, Henry VII