The Value of Currency in Eighteenth Century England Essay -- European

The Value of Currency in Eighteenth Century England For close to of the eighteenth speed of light, a shilling a day was a exquisite wage for most workers. Highly skilled workmen naturally made more than unskilled laborers and farm workers fared somewhat less favorably. One shilling would enlist home 5 Ibs.. of meat or four rabbits, 3 quarts of hale ale, or 6 gallons of middling beer (Mays 6). M. Dorothy George relates that the cheapest theatre seat, in the top gallery, was somewhat a shilling. And the weekly rent of a miserable London attic, ready render might be 1 shilling six pence (George Hogarth 51 n). prat ODonald Mays points out The coin would also allow the traveler to ride about 4 miles on the stagecoach in winter, and a somewhat greater distance in summer. At a noted Liverpool inn, The Lion, a duplicate could pay a shilling and enjoy a fine meal consisting of veal cutlets, pigeons, asparagus, lamb and salad, apple-pie and tarts. In London the shilling ha d a slightly lower purchasing power than in the provinces, but nonetheless went a long way in supplying items for the family larder. For twelve pence one could situate almost 4 Ibs.. of meat, 1 = Ibs.. of salt butter, almost 3 oz. of tea, 2 Ibs.. of sugar, and 2 Ibs.. of cheese. (quoted in Mays 7) For a country girl traveling to the city, the cheapest, and slowest, orchestrate of travel was the wagon. For a mere shilling a day, which meant a halfpenny a mile, she might even have the luxury of lying in the soft straw. Nights however might also have to be spend either in the wagon or in a bam along the way since no respectable inn would lodge someone who rode in a wagon (George, Hogarth 51 ) . Not nearly so comfortable, but much more dignified, was the stage coach. ... ...( ostiary 93). A Conversion Table from Roy Porter s English Society in the Eighteenth Century * 12 pennies (d.) = 1 shilling (s.) * 20 shillings = 1 pound * 21 shillings = 1 guinea * 5 shillings = 1 cr own 100 pounds in the 18 century = about 6,000 pounds todayTo roughly convert 18th century pounds to 1990 dollars, multiply by 100(these exchange rates and computations, compliments of Dr. Grove) whole kit CitedDefoe, Daniel. The Complete English Tradesman. Gloucester Allan Sutton Publ., 1987 - - - . Moll Flanders. Mineola Dover, 1996. George, M. Dorothy. Hogarth to Cruikshank Social Change in written Satire. London Viking, 1987. Mays, James ODonald. The Splendid Shilling A Social recital of an Engaging Coin. Burley Pardy & Son, 1982. Porter, Roy. English Society in the Eighteenth Century. London Penguin, 1990.