Purchasing Power Of Old Money

THE VALUE OF THE DOLLAR

When I look at my coins, I wonder more about what the coin might have bought rather than what famous or infamous American might have held it. For example, what could Andrew Carnegie buy with the $4.00 a week he made as a telegraph operator for a railroad in 1853 [about $104 in 2005 dollars]? I found a website that calculates the purchasing power of dollars in 2005 dollars for any year since1774 [ < https://www.measuringworth.com > ] and have listed those values for each decade from 1790 to 1900 (since the focus of my collection is on 18th and 19th century coins) as well as for the historic years of 1776 (American Revolution), 1794 (first US silver dollar minted), 1861 (start of Civil War), and 1865 (end of Civil War):

1776 23.09 [i.e. $1.00 in 1776 had the purchasing power of $23.09 in 2005]
1790 22.04
1794 18.36
1800 16.05
1810 16.38
1820 17.19
1830 21.85
1840 23.31
1850 25.80
1860 24.23
1861 22.87
1865 12.37
1870 15.44
1880 19.71
1890 22.41
1900 23.99

I also gathered information about wages and prices for goods and services from contemporary sources (such as memoirs, newspapers, diaries, letters, and other similar contemporary documents) available on the internet to gain some insight into what my old coins might buy during the revolutionary period, the civil war era, and the gilded age.

Revolutionary Period

British policy restricted gold and silver coins from being exported to the American colonies, but excavations of colonial sites frequently uncover halfpennies, and occasional farthings, of George II and George III. The prevailing Spanish coins were valued in terms of colonial shillings, a money of account which had no relationship to the English monetary system of 12 pence = 1 shilling, 20 shillings = 1 pound, with the English crown tariffed at 5 shillings in England. In 1645, Virginia made Spanish "real" the standard currency, valuing the eight-reales cob piece at 4s 6d, while Massachusetts valued it at 5s. The value of the Spanish colonial milled dollar (issued in Mexico from 1732 - 1821), or "piece of eight" in pirate lore, fluctuated from colony to colony over time. The 1759 edition of Father Abraham's Almanack (Philadelphia) listed a table of coins which showed the Spanish dollar to be at par with the English crown (a 5s piece in England), but both coins valued higher than the crown at 7s, 6d in Philadelphia and 8s in New York.

In 1770, an unskilled laborer might earn 9 shillings a week while a skilled tradesman might earn from 18 to 22 shillings a week. A pint of beer at the local tavern could be had for two pence (paid with various imported coppers) while a hearty dinner of roast beef with potatoes and beer might cost a shilling (paid with a 1 real piece). In the 1830's, Spanish coins still accounted for at least half of the coins in circulation along the eastern seaboard and at least 90 percent, if not all, of the coins west of the Mississippi. Prices were geared to the fractional parts of the Spanish dollar, as paying 12 ½ cents (a "bit") or 6 1/4 cents (a "picayune") for an item was common. The menu of Delmonico's in New York City in 1836 featured a "hamburger steak" for 10-cents, a roasted chicken for 10-cents, and pork chops at 4-cents each.

Civil War Era

In the decade before the Civil War, unskilled male laborers might earn $6.00 a week (at least 14 hours a day, 6 days a week) while female weavers and seamstresses employed in the textile mills and clothing industries made half of that wage. The New York Daily Tribune for March 9, 1859 (price was 2-cents) reported an eyewitness account of a slave auction. A prime field hand (usually age 18 to 25) sold for $1,600.00 while a young female slave who only feigned lameness sold for $695.00. The "chattels" who were lame or old brought much lower prices ($300.00 to $400.00), thus providing them with some hope of one day buying freedom. For lack of determining potential work ability, babies were often sold by the pound in the nation founded on principles of freedom.

In more genteel society, a student at the University of North Carolina, where faculty members might earn $1,600.00 a year, gave an accounting of his expenses for the Fall term of 1862 (no indication of whether expenses were in Union or Confederate money):

Tuition and room $46
Board $25/month
Books $20
Bureau with mirror $6
Bookcase $4
Shoes $7
Coat $15
Haircut $.25
Basket of peaches $.25
Basket of apples $.45
Admission to concert $.50
Admission to fair $.25 [Admission to minstrel shows in the North, commonly featuring the songs and dances of the "darkies" of the South caricatured in flyers of the times, was 25-cents]


In 1854, one county in North Carolina published a comprehensive schedule of medical fees, of which I selected some examples:

Day visit (before 9 PM) $1.00
Night visit $2.00
Country visit within 3 miles $1.50 (plus $.50 per mile over 3 miles)
Examination and certification
for life insurance $2.00
Advice and prescription $1.00
Dressing of wound $1.00 - 5.00
Treating gonorrhea $5.00 - 20.00 [common affliction of soldiers]
Treating small bone fracture $5.00 - 20.00
Treating large bone fracture $20.00 - 100.00
Amputation of limb $20.00 - 100.00
Attendance at childbirth $10.00 - 20.00 (more for twins or triplets)

In 1861, the monthly wages for the various military ranks of the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac were:

private $ 13 (plus the benefits of room and board)
lieutenant $105
captain $165
major $215
colonel $280
general $315 (brigadier general)


Gilded Age

The East needed beef after the Civil War, and the western cowboys who worked the cattle drive [1865-1890] made $1.00 a day in a 4-month drive from June through September, paid in gold when the average of 3,000 head of cattle were sold at $10.00 per head in Kansas or Wyoming. The cowboys on the drive, usually 12 or 15 in number, were typically illiterate displaced young men (age 14 to 25) from the South, former slaves, or Mexicans willing to work for the cheap wages. It was the job one did when he could not do anything else. The pistols often seen in western movies were seldom used on the trail. A Colt "peacemaker" cost $25.00 while the Remington six-shooter cost $15 in 1873.

The East with its expanding industries had cheap labor from the influx of farmers, immigrants, and displaced Southerners. In 1880, the unskilled factory work made 20-cents an hour for a 14-hour day and 6-day week ($2.80 per day or $16.80 per week). Women and children earned half of that wage. Afro-Americans working as railroad porters in 1872 made 50-cents a day plus tips. Examples of prices for rent, fuel, and food in 1880 are:


Rent $20 per month for a 4-room slum tenement
Coal $.70 per bushel
Coffee $.35 per pound
Sugar $.30 per pound
Butter $.40 per pound
Lard $.20 per pound
Potatoes $.17 per pound
Eggs $.15 per dozen
Meat $.50 per pound for bacon or pork chops

According to the New York Times for October 11, 1871 [price 4-cents, up from 2-cents in 1861], which estimated property loss in the great Chicago fire, the cost of the average house in the area of the fire was $4,000 and an additional $2,000 for furnishings. Advertisements for boarding houses show the charge as $18.00 per month. Cheaper 4-room houses could be purchased for $1,500.00 to $2,500.00, while a 8 to 10-room family dwelling sold for $6,000.0 to $8,000.00.

Any additional wage and price information from members would be much appreciated.