How Much Did Things Cost In Medieval England? Coin History

Sources used:
History of England - thehistoryofengland.co.uk/res...
Medieval prices - medieval.ucdavis.edu/120D/Mone...

[@JohnnyUrbanWoodsmen]

Great episode, Wow the armor for the Prince of Wales cost 340 pounds in 1614, that would equate to $90,730 dollars or 76,537 pounds sterling today, and that top fashionable gown cost 200s (Shillings) which is 10 pounds so today that would have been equal to $14,690 dollars or 12,392 pounds sterling today, compare that to the fashionable gown which is 63d, so lets break this down, there's 240 old pence to a pound sterling and I calculated 63pence at .33 pounds sterling or a 1/3 of a pound, so that roughly equates to $485 or 409.13 pounds sterling today, and lastly the funeral for a gentle woman which cost 7 pounds thats equates to $10,487 or 8,847 pounds sterling today, which is the average cost of a modern funeral. Hope you guys enjoy my conversion, I enjoyed doing it. Did mention I love and collect British silver coins and as an American I prefer to old pound sterling standard or Pre-decimalization.

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Fantastic conversion Johnny, thank you so much!

[@JohnnyUrbanWoodsmen]

@@TheHammeredCorner Your welcome, and Thank you for a great video and for the Pin. If you need another conversion let me know, Ill be glad to do so.

[@EroticOnion23]

Silver had a lot more purchasing power back then than today due to the fiat-currency dominance (less demand for silver for monetary purposes) so not sure if converting to modern USD or UKP is a valid comparison. For example during Charlemagne: a pence/penny (~1.7g silver) could buy you "12x 2-pound loaves of bread, a sheep would be five pence, ten pence for a pig, twenty for a cow and thirty for an ox"...in the video, those wages were right after the Black Death so labor (and prices) were also inflated...🤔

[@JohnnyUrbanWoodsmen]

@@EroticOnion23 Well you cant really go so far back, Charlemagne was 814 years prier to the black prince of wales armor talked about in this video, silver in Charlemagnes time wasnt easily come by, hence why it was worth a more, by 1614, the British pound was already standardized to 1.34gram of silver to the penny, set by King Henry III in 1158 which introduced the sterling system based on Charlemagne and the Anglo-Saxon King Offa, then reduce again by King Edward III to 1.2grams. and by the time of 1614, the penny was about 1gram of silver, and the British empire went to the gold standard which stabilized the money. so yeah you do see debasement but barely any inflation, metal keeps inflation at bay, which is why 340 British Pounds Sterling in 1614 had a purchasing power of over $90,000 dollar or 76,000 pounds today.. That is why governments moved to a currency system, because they knew that they could not inflate metals but they could inflate paper, over printing of the currency supply create inflation, look at the inflating today, when Richard Nixon took us off the gold standard in 1971, or when the Brits when to a decimal currency and the pound when from 240 pence to 100 pence, and how there inflation afterwards took off. sorry for rambling so much, so yes modern inflation adds the the purchasing power in way, but even if we factor that in, lets going back prior to 1971, when the world was still at the gold standard, 340 British pounds in 1614 would have a purchasing power of about $70,000 USD or $56,000 BPS give or take. I hope I explain my point clearly.

[@EroticOnion23]

@@JohnnyUrbanWoodsmen mmm so 340L x 240pennies/L = 81,600g (assuming the 1g/pence)…so at $90,000 that is $1.1/g. Seems exceedingly low, almost as “cheap” as silver is nowadays which everyone knows is heavily suppressed to promote fiat-currencies. Did you mean another number??…🤔

[@kristianferencik8685]

The average life expectancy was 30 years but that also includes mortality rates of unborn children, infants and soldiers. The life expectancy if you survived birth, famine, and war was about mid 60s-70s .

[@ANutterwitch-wq1gj]

Great video made even better because you cited your sources! Thank you, Hammered Corner!

[@BattlesDiplomacy]

A brilliant video, please post more and more frequently we love them!

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thank you!

[@TheMercianMetalDetecting]

Hello again Luke, I don't know how I missed this video but have caught up now. Thank you very much, great information.

[@georgeiii2998]

It goes without saying, as they are in all of your videos, but those coins are still absolutely sublime.

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thank you!

[@Mike_of_the_Sonora]

Another amazing video my friend! it surprises me to some degree that rent was done on a yearly basis

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Mike 😊 I’d imagine it was conducted quarterly perhaps? 😊

[@adreabrooks11]

In an agricultural society, there's really only one big payoff per year. For breeders, it's after the lambing, calving, etc; for everyone else, it's harvest time. I haven't researched the matter, but it would stand to reason that rent was probably levied soon after this time - with enough window to allow tenants to finish their work and tally up earnings.

[@johnnyb3126]

Interesting and informative thank you for sharing 👍

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Johnny 😊

[@DiggerDawn]

I really enjoyed this thankyou for taking the time to make this video. As a metal detectorist I always wonder what could have been bought with the coins I find. New subscriber :-)

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thank you so much, Dawn. Have been a subscriber of yours for sometime. Appreciate your comment 😊

[@juneroberts5305]

This was brilliant. Thank you.

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks June 😊

[@ptobill]

Brilliant Luke, top of the class!

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Linda!

[@danielt879]

Great video.. very interesting 👌 thank you.

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Daniel!

[@ashwynn4177]

Fascinating! Good job

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Ash 😎

[@ricp123]

Love these pricing videos

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thank you!

[@leonardjackman354]

Thank you Luke for another interesting video. Len

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Len. Glad you enjoyed it ☺️

[@gordongrant408]

Very interesting cheers Luke 😁😄

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Gordon! 😃

[@mikedubovs1574]

This is great content

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Mike!

[@samabrahams7687]

Yesss bro the best video! please do Victoria coins i know they are late milled but they are my favourite numismatics to collect .👍🔥

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Sam! Not sure I’ll ever cover Victoria as her coinage is too modern but you never know 😊

[@samabrahams7687]

@@TheHammeredCorner no problem ha ha i thought it was a long shot ... great work buddy keep it up cracking content!

[@SgtSteel1]

I can't believe how relatively cheap property was. Wow.

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Crazy to think about nowadays 😊

[@allenschmitz9644]

Now those coins buy suckers who collect them.

[@stefkuna]

Wow. The gap between poor and rich was huge back then. I'll have a pint of second rate ale and a packet of crisps please.

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Sounds like my type of date! 😜

[@Cp-71]

Considering how low some pays were, wouldn't it make more sense just to look for coins on the ground? In a day, you'd be bound to find at least some, especially if you lived in a city...

[@samy7013]

Seems roughly commensurate with the central regions of the Islamic world (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Arabia), where a basic laborer might expect to make a silver dirham per day (~2.75g of almost pure silver). That’s not far off from what a Roman laborer at the height of the Roman Empire might expect to make. Which goes to show how absent really exceptional conditions, inflation was usually very low-to-non-existent over long periods of time during the eras when precious metal specie money was in use.

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Awesome to hear the contrasts between then and the similarities ☺️ if you ever make a video on the Islamic ones let me know!

[@petercook7502]

I'd like to compare cost of living during medieval times and now?

[@AliciaAlexander01]

Hello my name is Alicia Alexander and I believe I have a hammered coin but haven't been able to figure out what exactly it is! Maybe you could help me with that!

[@samy7013]

I don’t see the source links in the video description or a pinned comment. If you could post thoughts, I’d really appreciate it! I’d love to go through those sources, and compare then to similar sources that I’ve gathered regarding monetary standards and purchasing power in medieval Islamic lands. Thanks in advance!

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Samy, they’re now linked in the description!

[@samy7013]

@@TheHammeredCorner : Thank you! You’re a real champ. I love how far your channel has come in a relatively short time. Really phenomenal work, buddy!

[@TheHammeredCorner]

@@samy7013 thank you so much Sam 😃

[@scottessery100]

i love the spelling and type font at the top. thank you

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Scott

[@thatoneguy7191]

6:03 That's a lot of medieval cheese!

[@TheHammeredCorner]

😂

[@ChuckAndLucy]

Wow, very interesting especially to see how much 80 pounds of cheese would cost... Perhaps these people were getting ready to bake a large pot of macaroni and cheese?

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Thanks Chuck! I know, what an odd amount of cheese to price 😂

[@BattlesDiplomacy]

Can you explain futher how 2d/day = 480d/year? But 4d/day = 1240d/year?

[@TheHammeredCorner]

All depends on the frequency of work for each worker / period.

[@TonyqTNT]

Trying to find out how towns began to take off during the Middle Ages? If most of the people were agricultural peasantry with limited currency purchasing power where was the base market for the goods and services produced in the towns and cities? Also, how did currency get introduced into the economy without banks, credit, and paid salaries for most people. I know this is an extremely difficult question. However, if anyone has reading 📚 suggestions or even their own personal perspectives I would be very interested to see them!!!

[@p3ter9000]

Only a vague answer, but I know one of the driving creators of towns (other than the communities that compose a feudal estate) was the potential for trade at natural crossroads and ports like London where the free artisans would accumulate.

[@sirellyn]

Merchants and capitalism is the easy answer. Adam Smith more or less wrote about it. As for currency, the king spent newly minted money. And bought silver and gold from merchants or miners to mint more money. Money traded hands until it met the peasants, but mostly the peasants would only own pence or maybe shillings. They almost never see a pound. When people could travel more and were somewhat free, merchants with arbitrage took off. That's what founded the towns. Everyone had different skills, but in larger pools of people you could find higher ends of the distribution range in talents.

[@p3ter9000]

Really surprising that what I would consider to be around "middle-class" professions like a stonemason or thatcher up to a constable is only 4 to 13 pence a day, meaning that 2 dozen eggs would cost a sizeable portion of your daily pay Frankly I'm surprised that there could such staggering wealth inequality back then. With capitalism, it's a bit easier to see how large interconnected markets can cause some people to become astronomically rich, but with the social arrangement back then I just have a hard time imagining how there was so much money, for instance, among the clergy or scholars

[@betterjustice6697]

I had a random thought cross my mind of how much did things cost back in medieval times, and it just got me thinking on the whole idea~. This video was absolutely intriguing and hit every question on the head!

[@taiga1295]

How much liquid was in a gallon?

[@adreabrooks11]

A gallon is equal to four quarts; one quart is roughly equal to a liter.

[@ericcasagrande]

Pretty expensive to marry a Baron's daughter, but I'll bet she gave a wedding night you wouldn't soon forget. (LOL) On a side note, while a life expectancy of 30 years is fairly short, nevertheless if you were around in the time of the Roman Empire the life expectancy was only 20 years -- and many women died during childbirth.

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Hi Eric 😆 it’s interesting to hear the comparison between medieval and Roman life Span, crazy how times have changed!

[@scottessery100]

8:14 30 year life span! so by 20 your middle aged. thats shocking the average has increased to about 81 closing in on 3 times the life span

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Exactly Scott, I’d be close to death If I lived back then!

[@adreabrooks11]

Remember that that's the "average" life span. Infant and child mortality was huge back then - without the antibiotics and other treatments we've enjoyed in modern times. If one survived childhood, one could expect to live into one's 60s or 70s - similar to today. There were exceptions of course; nobles got the best food and care, and lived longer on average; sailors and soldiers during active wartime died sooner. And, of course, many young mothers died in childbirth. However, it really is the babies and children that bring that number down. Consider a population of two people - one lives to 100, the other dies at birth. The "average life span" of that population is 50 years. Considering that, in some places, more than half of children carried to term would fail to reach adulthood, and you can see where the figure of "30 years" comes from.

[@justinjeffries1554]

so with drink being per gallon...what did they do? Shave off a part of the penny? haha

[@adreabrooks11]

Two things: First, people didn't drink out much; they'd buy a gallon of beer from the brewer and drink it over a period of time. Second: there were denominations smaller than a penny. The halfpenny (self explanatory) and the farthing, which was worth a quarter of a penny.

[@Burnersforvanlife]

Your 1390's man servant figures for a year areas quite frankly laughable.

[@TheHammeredCorner]

Hi Dave, the figures are from references listed in the description. Hope you enjoyed the video 😃