At the height of the currency crisis, a golden guinea traded for about thirty silver shillings—one and a half pounds, and close to a month’s wages for those at the bottom of the working world. Meanwhile a pound of steak at Spitalfields market cost about three pennies, and a gallon of ale could be bought for a shilling or less. For a very rough analogue, imagine trying to get through a day with nothing smaller than thousand-dollar bills or five-hundred-pound notes (and no credit cards).
