Regency Money
Money–
Needed to do some research on Regency money and here is what I came up with.
Name
Value
# of Pence
Date of Issue
David’s 2010 Value
Other names, Cant
Mite
1/8th Penny
.125
1842
$1
Farthing
1/4th Penny
.25
1672
$2
A grig
Ha’Penny
1/2 Penny
.5
1672
$4
A meg, a tonic, or h’pence
Penny
1 Pence
1
1797
$8
A copper
Tuppence
2 Pence
2
1797
$16
twopence
Thruppence
3 Pence
3
$25
Threps, thrums, half a fiddle
Groat
4 Pence
4
$34
Tanner
6 Pence
6
1674
$50
A half borde, a sow’s baby, a kick, half a hog, a fiddle, sixpence
Shilling
12 Pence
12
1663
$100
a borde, a hog
Florin
2 Shillings
24
$200
Half-Crown
2 1/2 Shillings
30
1663
$250
A hind coachwheel, a half bull, or two and a kick
Crown
5 Shillings
60
1662
$500
a coach wheel , bull, bulls-eye
Half-Sovereign
10 Shillings
120
1817
$1,000
Pound
20 Shillings
240
1797
$2,000
a screen
Sovereign
20 Shillings
240
1817
$2,000
A goblin
Guinea
1 Pound 1 Shilling
252
1663
$2,100
yellow boy, yellow george
A Pony
25 Pounds
6,000
$50,000
A Pony
A Ton
100 Pounds
24,000
$200,000
A Ton
A Monkey
500 Pounds
120,000
$1,000,000
A Monkey
A Plum
100,000 Pounds
A whole lot
$200,000,000
A Plum
In figuring out what the value today of this kind of money is, I am going to use a few concepts. Darcy has an income of 10,000 a year and Bingley has 5,000. That is in pounds. The Common laborer might expect 15 to 20 pounds a year for his family.
A soldier earned a shilling a day. Or 18 pounds a year, 15 pence a day in the cavalry.
Let’s do a little David math. In 2010, a soldier should be earning about $30,000 to start. I am going to round up to $36,000 and bring that to $100 dollars a day, or 1 shilling equals a $100 dollars at the low end of the scale.
This makes Darcy’s money at $20 million and Bingley’s at $10,000,000
But look at Pemberly and Netherfield as we see them thanks to location choices by the directors of the movies. That is the kind of money it would take to run such an establishment. With Netherfield having fifty people on staff, there goes $1000 pounds of Bingley’s money, and that is wages. He has to feed and put all those people in livery as well. It isn’t cheap.
