Purchasing power of coins when they were minted? ( what was the )

I got to thinking about old copper coins that circulated around the time of the US Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
I wondered what you could buy for a US half or large cent that circulated at the time or British Halfpennies or Canadian halfpenny tokens.
What sort of things were for sale in the general merchant stores and markets at the time. These coins certainly saw some heavy crirculation and I would guess most everyone had a little coin bag or purse to hold them.
Rarity set aside for certain coins, I wonder if the average prices for what these are worth today in lower but acceptable circulated condition, is almost equal to what they could buy in those times. For example if you paid $15.00 for a coin like this large cent below, would it have about the same purchasing power today as it had back when it was new?

How much was a loaf of bread in 1800? A pound of tea? A dozen eggs? A glass of ale? A night in the hotel? A days pay?
Thinking about a world of electronic currency, I have no problem with keeping copper, nickel, silver and gold in my purse. Seems like it has held it's own against inflation over time.
If the world goes cashless, I think we've all gone broke.
Hope my thoughts have not been boring.

 

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Biggest thing to remember is that 1 cent is equal a 1/2000 Oz of gold.

So...that's about $1 in02013 dollars terms.

That is the only math I use, and it usually works out great!

 

I have often wondered this myself ill be interested to see the response from some of the more knowledgeable members....:thumb:

 

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ here this may help you find out what a $1.00 was worth in 1800's

 

Yes - it is Gold that has stayed the same and everything else that has changed! A Sovereign in 1912 was One Pound in the UK. The same sovereign now, due to it's gold value is worth about £250. But one pound in 1912 would buy about as much as £250 now. (A quality newspaper then was a penny ha'penny, and there were 240 pennies to the pound. The same newspaper now cost £1.50.)

Doesn't answer the OP question, but still interesting I think.

 

so if you use the table a US $1 in 1800 = $13.29 in 2012

 

http://futureboy.us/fsp/dollar.fsp?quantity=1&currency=dollars&fromYear=1700 here's another link to a converter I used a $1 US today compared to 1700.'s = $21.4 usd

 

I have often wondered the same thing. According to my grandfather, "back in the day", he could take his girlfriend on a streetcar ride to the movies, get popcorn and a drink and a ride home for a nickel. According to my math that would be like $200 today. I wonder if he was exaggerating a bit?

 

No not really as a nickel when I was a kid I could buy an single dip ice cream cone,or a pack of base ball cards, 5 pcs of penny candy or a Nickel COKE! in the 1960's I went to private school this cost my parents $2.25 @ month for my tuition!

One must remember at that time gold was fixed at $35 @ oz and silver was just over a $1 an oz.

 

I wish, my sons tuition is over 15K a year, and he is in fifth grade.

 

I can imagine.....as I have great niece and nephew in private school today and know it's very pricey....When I was a teenager I worked in a Italian Bakery it cost the owner 3 cents to make a loaf of bread and sold it for a quarter....but that was still cheap as whats the cost of a loaf of bread these days? Like almost $4 usd

 

Basics were much more expensive back in former times merely because of the greater time necessary for production of food, goods etc. You have to consider that even 50 years ago people got by with a lot less than they do now - stuff we cannot live without they lived easily without - cellphones, computers, colour TVs and even B&W TV's.

I have a 1975 Sears catalogue - it is unrealy how high the prices for clothes, electronics etc were by comparison to the salaries from the time. You really did pay a lot more for stuff then - but there was a lot less stuff to buy by comparison to now.

 

Wow has it risen , my sons grade school tuition was $3000 in the late 80s at a Parochial School . I feel for you , but a good education is worth it .

 

I entered the University of Kentucky in 1964 as a sophomore. I remember the tuition was $150 per semester for in-state students. I will however say that my freshman year was at the University of Louisville and that was something like $500 per quarter.

 

just how old are you grandpa did you call adam and eve little adam and eve

BTW inflation is not there since the dawn of time it didnt start till after the concept of money started.

 

Why does Money=Inflation? What if 1 cow cost you 2 bushels of corn yesterday, and 4 bushels tomorrow, would that not be a case of inflation and without money?

Methinks inflation is inherent in most anything representing value and the fluctuation between todays prices, yesterdays prices, and tomorrows prices. Whatever that 'price' may be. Doesnt have to be restricted to money though.

I do have to wonder if Adam & Eve called Doug, 'Uncle' or not? You know, since he helped raise them and teach them about coins and evil snakes and stuff.

 

Just diversify. Get some cows, and some wheat.

 

Since precious metals values change, I always wondered why the early minters in the US wanted to put a penny's worth of copper in the penny. If memory serves correctly there was even a cent minted that had a silver center to increase the value without increasing the weight. Sometime gotta wonder about those founding fathers.

 

Ah but you miss the point - for much of history the value of the coin has been the value of the metal in it, not what was printed on it. In modern civilisation this was broadly the case - certainly for larger denomination coins - until about WW1. In the UK we came off the gold standard in 1919 I believe - up until then our gold and silver coins reflected their buying power in their weight of Precious Metal. In 1797 when we issued a twopence coin in copper, it was huge and unwieldy because it contained tuppence worth of copper.

Interestingly there is a strong correlation between pure inflation (as opposed to mere market fluctuations) and the use of debased coinage. The Romans were I believe the first to experience galloping inflation, largely as a result of the issuing of highly debased billon coinage.