Anker (unit)

{{Other uses|Dutch units of measurement#Volume}}

An Anker (usually anglicized as Anchor{{Cite book|title = Colonial American English: A Glossary.|last = Lederer|first = Richard M.|publisher = A Verbatim Book|year = 1985|isbn = 978-0930454197|location = Essex, Connecticut|pages = ??}}) was a Dutch unit of capacity for wine or brandy equal to 10 US gallonsThe US gallon was based on the British wine gallon, a liquid measurement for wine and brandy. It was called a wine gallon to distinguish it from the ale gallon, the beer gallon, and the dry-measure corn gallon for grain. They were replaced by the Imperial measure system by 1826. that was used as a standard liquid measurement.{{Cite book|title = Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures|last = Cardarelli|first = François|publisher = Springer|year = 2003|isbn = 978-1-4471-1122-1|location = London|pages = 49}} It was most commonly used in Colonial times in New York and New Jersey, thanks to the earlier Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam (later New York City).

Many European countries had a different measurement of this unit that varied from 9 to 11 US gallons [equivalent to 7.5 to 9.25 Imperial gallonsThe Imperial gallon was based on the British Ale gallon. or 34 to 42 Litres].{{Cite book|title = The Commercial Dictionary of Trade Products, Manufacturing and Technical Terms, Moneys, Weights, and Measures of all Countries (New edition revised and enlarged).|last = Simmonds|first = P[eter] L[und]|publisher = George Routledge and Sons|year = 1892|isbn = |location = London|pages = 12}}"Anker, a small cask or runlet containing 8 1/3 [Imperial] gallons, which in this country is now obsolete. The anker is still, however, a common liquid measure in many of the Continental states, varying from 7½ to 9¼ [Imperial] gallons." - Simmonds, The Commercial Dictionary of Trade Products, Manufacturing and Technical Terms, Moneys, Weights, and Measures of all Countries (1892), pg. 12