How much is that worth today?

Running a local history website I am often asked 'How much is that worth today?' This is not the straight forward question that it seems at first sight. A lot depends on the context of the enquiry and the underlying figures used in the calculations, and pressures caused by floods, famines, wars and pestilence. The further you go back in time the less raw data is available so it is not surprising that the figures do not give a smooth line if plotted on a graph.

Rather than trying to do all the research and complicated sums we have used the following website www.measuringworth.com (External links open in a new windows.) when compiling the table shown below. Measuringworth.com give two answers depending on what you are trying to achieve. One is for people who just want to know how much something (say a loaf of bread) costs in today's money, and is based on the Retail Price Index. The other is for people who want to know how affordable something was and is based on average wages. Their website is well worth a visit and explains more fully why they use these two measures.

The National Archives also has a 'currency converter' http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/ but don't be surprised that the two sites produce different figures.

Purchasing Power of £1 compared to 2007 values Figures supplied by: Lawrence H. Officer, "Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1264 to 2007," Measuring Worth, 2008. URL http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/.
Year	RPI	Average Earnings	Comments
	Use for "buying a loaf of bread" type of questions	Use for how "affordable" this would be to the average person type questions
1275	£355.39	£11,822.40
1300	£390.93	£10,010.23	Great Famine 1315-1322
1325	£303.93	£7,865.52
1350	£430.26	£6,987.23	Black Death 1348/9
1375	£304.03	£5,067.60	Peasants Revolt 1381
1400	£400.78	£5,283.69
1425	£472.29	£4,958.07
1450	£520.14	£5,246.55	Wars of the Roses 1455
1475	£549.74	£4,755.63	Plague 1498
1500	£501.55	£4,755.63
1525	£466.79	£4,755.63	Reformation 1534
1550	£243.02	£3,780.97
1575	£184.16	£2,441.86	First Treaty of Nonsuch 1585 / London Plague 1592–1594
1600	£141.16	£1,947.48	Gunpowder Plot 1605
1625	£138.24	£1,776.22
1650	£87.99	£1,533.37	Plague 1665 / Fire of London 1666
1675	£125.66	£1,449.82
1700	£130.43	£1,604.57	Bank of England Formed 1694
1725	£123.10	£1,572.26	South Sea Bubble 1720
1750	£138.67	£1,445.15
1775	£97.63	£1,312.79	First cotton mill 1771
1800	£52.03	£769.62	Corn Laws 1815
1825	£66.59	£776.42	Railway Age starts 1825 / Met Police Formed 1829
1836	£75.52	£784.33	Cholera 1832 / Epsom's New Work House started 1836
1850	£82.37	£746.30	Penny Post starts 1840 / Irish potato famine 1845
1875	£67.55	£502.61
1900	£77.58	£421.01
1914	£68.80	£360.15	WW1 Starts
1918	£34.91	£172.39	WW1 Ends / Flu Pandemic
1925	£40.88	£181.88
1939	£44.44	£169.89	WW2 Starts
1945	£30.93	£97.90	WW2 Ends
1950	£24.69	£73.23
1975	£6.04	£9.51
2000	£1.21	£1.31

Value of some pre decimal coins used in England:

Angel / Noble = 6s.8d (33.3p)
Crown (post 1551*) = 5s. (25p)
Farthing = 0.25d (1/960 of £1)
Florin = 2s. = 24d (10p)
Groat = 4d (1.5p)
Guinea (post 1717*) = £1 1s. (£1.05)
Half Crown (post 1551*) = 2s.6d (12½p)
Half-Penny 0.5d = (1/480 of £1)
Mark (Not an English Coin*) = 13s.4d (66.6p)
Ora (Not an English Coin) = 16d (6.6p)
Pence (Post Decimal) = 2.4d (1p)
Penny (Pre Decimal) = 1d (0.5p strictly 1/240 of £1)
Ryal (also known as a Rose Nobel or Royal)= 10s. (50p)
Shilling (also known as a Bob)= 1s. = 12d (5p)
Sixpence (also known as a Tanner) / Helm = 6d (2½p)
Sovereign (post 1817*) / Unite / Pound = £1
Threepenny piece = 3d (1p strictly 3/240 of £1)

(* = some coins had different values at different times)

Decimal Currency Conversion Table

Prior to decimalisation (15 February 1971) £1 = 20s. = 240d

s.d	p		s.d	p		s.d	p		s.d	p
1d	½p		5s.1d	25½p		10s.1d	50½p		15s.1d	75½p
2d	1p		5s.2d	26p		10s.2d	51p		15s.2d	76p
3d	1p		5s.3d	26p		10s.3d	51p		15s.3d	76p
4d	1½p		5s.4d	26½p		10s.4d	51½p		15s.4d	76½p
5d	2p		5s.5d	27p		10s.5d	52p		15s.5d	77p
6d	2½p		5s.6d	27½p		10s.6d	52½p		15s.6d	77½p
7d	3p		5s.7d	28p		10s.7d	53p		15s.7d	78p
8d	3½p		5s.8d	28½p		10s.8d	53½p		15s.8d	78½p
9d	4p		5s.9d	29p		10s.9d	54p		15s.9d	79p
10d	4p		5s.10d	29p		10s.10d	54p		15s.10d	79p
11d	4½p		5s.11d	29½p		10s.11d	54½p		15s.11d	79½p
1s.0d	5p		6s.0d	30p		11s.0d	55p		16s.0d	80p
1s.1d	5½p		6s.1d	30½p		11s.1d	55½p		16s.1d	80½p
1s.2d	6p		6s.2d	31p		11s.2d	56p		16s.2d	81p
1s.3d	6p		6s.3d	31p		11s.3d	56p		16s.3d	81p
1s.4d	6½p		6s.4d	31½p		11s.4d	56½p		16s.4d	81½p
1s.5d	7p		6s.5d	32p		11s.5d	57p		16s.5d	82p
1s.6d	7½p		6s.6d	32½p		11s.6d	57½p		16s.6d	82½p
1s.7d	8p		6s.7d	33p		11s.7d	58p		16s.7d	83p
1s.8d	8½p		6s.8d	33½p		11s.8d	58½p		16s.8d	83½p
1s.9d	9p		6s.9d	34p		11s.9d	59p		16s.9d	84p
1s.10d	9p		6s.10d	34p		11s.10d	59p		16s.10d	84p
1s.11d	9½p		6s.11d	34½p		11s.11d	59½p		16s.11d	84½p
2s.0d	10p		7s.0d	35p		12s.0d	60p		17s.0d	85p
2s.1d	10½p		7s.1d	35½p		12s.1d	60½p		17s.1d	85½p
2s.2d	11p		7s.2d	36p		12s.2d	61p		17s.2d	86p
2s.3d	11p		7s.3d	36p		12s.3d	61p		17s.3d	86p
2s.4d	11½p		7s.4d	36½p		12s.4d	61½p		17s.4d	86½p
2s.5d	12p		7s.5d	37p		12s.5d	62p		17s.5d	87p
2s.6d	12½p		7s.6d	37½p		12s.6d	62½p		17s.6d	87½p
2s.7d	13p		7s.7d	38p		12s.7d	63p		17s.7d	88p
2s.8d	13½p		7s.8d	38½p		12s.8d	63½p		17s.8d	88½p
2s.9d	14p		7s.9d	39p		12s.9d	64p		17s.9d	89p
2s.10d	14p		7s.10d	39p		12s.10d	64p		17s.10d	89p
2s.11d	14½p		7s.11d	39½p		12s.11d	64½p		17s.11d	89½p
3s.0d	15p		8s.0d	40p		13s.0d	65p		18s.0d	90p
3s.1d	15½p		8s.1d	40½p		13s.1d	65½p		18s.1d	90½p
3s.2d	16p		8s.2d	41p		13s.2d	66p		18s.2d	91p
3s.3d	16p		8s.3d	41p		13s.3d	66p		18s.3d	91p
3s.4d	16½p		8s.4d	41½p		13s.4d	66½p		18s.4d	91½p
3s.5d	17p		8s.5d	42p		13s.5d	67p		18s.5d	92p
3s.6d	17½p		8s.6d	42½p		13s.6d	67½p		18s.6d	92½p
3s.7d	18p		8s.7d	43p		13s.7d	68p		18s.7d	93p
3s.8d	18½p		8s.8d	43½p		13s.8d	68½p		18s.8d	93½p
3s.9d	19p		8s.9d	44p		13s.9d	69p		18s.9d	94p
3s.10d	19p		8s.10d	44p		13s.10d	69p		18s.10d	94p
3s.11d	19½p		8s.11d	44½p		13s.11d	69½p		18s.11d	94½p
4s.0d	20p		9s.0d	45p		14s.0d	70p		19s.0d	95p
4s.1d	20½p		9s.1d	45½p		14s.1d	70½p		19s.1d	95½p
4s.2d	21p		9s.2d	46p		14s.2d	71p		19s.2d	96p
4s.3d	21p		9s.3d	46p		14s.3d	71p		19s.3d	96p
4s.4d	21½p		9s.4d	46½p		14s.4d	71½p		19s.4d	96½p
4s.5d	22p		9s.5d	47p		14s.5d	72p		19s.5d	97p
4s.6d	22½p		9s.6d	47½p		14s.6d	72½p		19s.6d	97½p
4s.7d	23p		9s.7d	48p		14s.7d	73p		19s.7d	98p
4s.8d	23½p		9s.8d	48½p		14s.8d	73½p		19s.8d	98½p
4s.9d	24p		9s.9d	49p		14s.9d	74p		19s.9d	99p
4s.10d	24p		9s.10d	49p		14s.10d	74p		19s.10d	99p
4s.11d	24½p		9s.11d	49½p		14s.11d	74½p		19s.11d	99½p
5s.0d	25p		10s.0d	50p		15s.0d	75p		£1.0s.0d	£1.00