Friday, May 25, 2007

Historical Money and Prices in Caribbean

Income
The following shows the average annual incomes for different professions in the early 18th century. The difference in income between the upper and lower classes is quite clear.

Profession Income
£
Dubloon
Modern US $
Nobleman 5,000 - 25,000
6,500 - 35,000
$800,000 - $4,000,000
Colonial Governor 1,000 - 5,000
1,300 - 6,500
$160,000 - $800,000
Gentry 1,000 - 5,000
1,300 - 6,500
$160,000 - $800,000
Officeholding Lawyer 1,000
1,200
$160,000
Army Colonel 365
480
$58,000
Navy Captain/Army Major 237
316
$38,000
Yeoman farmer/Plantation Owner 40 - 250
50 - 300
$6,400 - $40,000
Army Captain 146
195
$24,000
Physician 120
160
$19,000
Justice of the Peace 63
85
$10,000
Army Lieutenant 73
100
$12,000
Court Poet 50 - 60
65 - 80
$8,000 - $9,500
Army Sergeant 54
72
$8,600
Lower Clergy 10 - 50
12 - 60
$1,600 - $8,000
Navy Midshipman 27
38
$4,300
Skilled Craftsman 30
40
$4,800
Sculptor 20 - 100
25 -130
$3,200 - $16,000
Skilled Labourer 16 - 18
20 - 30
$2,500 - $3,000
Apothecary 10 - 15
13 - 20
$1,600 - $2,400
Army soldier 15
20
$2,400
Unskilled Labourer 12
16
$1,900
Navy Seaman 11
15
$1,750
Agricultural Worker 10 - 13
13 - 17
$1,600 - $2,000
Teacher (Male) 12
16
$1,900
Subsistence Farmer 6
8
$950
Teacher (Female) 8
10
$1,250
Woman Labourer 5
7
$800
Militiaman 4
5
$600
Servant 1 plus keep
1 plus keep
$150 plus keep

Weapons
Cutlass/Hanger - 7 6
$60 Standard weapon of pirates and sailors.
Broadsword/Cavalry Sword - 10 -
$80 Common weapons amongst soldiers.
Smallsword 3-5 - -
$480-$800 A gentleman's sword. This is a plain version, many are jewelled and gilded.
Dagger - 2 6
$20
Boarding axe - 5 -
$40
Boarding pike - 4 -
$32
Belaying pin - 2 -
$16
Musket, flintlock 3 - -
$480
Musket, matchlock 1 - -
$160 Somewhat slow and antiquated, but cheap.
Carbine, flintlock 2 10 -
$400
Pistol, flintlock 5 - -
$800
Blunderbuss, flintlock 2 - -
$320
Musketoon, flintlock 2 - -
$320
Swivelgun 2 - -
£320 Per pound shot. Weight of the gun is about 50 times the weight of the shot
Cannon 4 - -
$640 Per pound shot. Weight of the gun is about 200 times the weight of the shot.
Roundshot - - 2
$1.30 Per pound of shot.
Pistol/Musket shot - - 6
$4 Per pound of shot - around 15 musket balls or 25 pistol balls.
Wadding - - -
- Any canvas, linen or paper will do. Worn sailcloth is commonly used.
Black Eagle (powder) - 10 -
$80 Per cask. This powder is old and has settled out of its original mix. It has been around too long. It is less reliable and more dangerous than other powders, but it is cheap!
French White Letter (powder) 1 - -
$160 Per cask. This powder is not fresh, but it has been stored and mixed properly and gives good report when fired.
Red Letter (powder) 1 10 -
$240 Per cask. This powder is hard to get. It is Port-Royal's best powder, and the ingredients are superior. This is new powder that stores well.
White Letter Primer 2 - -
$320 Per cask. This is a fine grain high quality powder, used to prime both handguns and cannons. Fine grain priming powder is a neccessity. Each cannon shot used as much primer as a fully loaded musket uses common powder.
Powder horn - - 10
$6.70 Holds the coarse reloading powder for pistols and muskets. Contains around 40 shots worth of powder.
Priming horn - - 6
$4 Holds the finer priming powder.
Cartridge box - 2 6
$20 Holds between 12 and 20 paper cartriges for a musket.
Bayonet - 2 6
$20 Socket type bayonet.
Sample Cargoes/Treasures
Leather shoes (fromFlorence) 400 - -
$64,000 For a crate of around 200 shoes.
Furniture (from Paris) 1,800 - -
$288,000 For a crate of around 30 pieces of furniture.
Fans (from China) 3,200 - -
$512,000 For a crate of 800 fans.
Rugs (from Turkey) 1,000 - -
$160,000 For a crate of 50 rugs.
Books (from Europe) 1,200 - -
$192,000 For a crate of 200 books.
Pewterware (from London) 600 - -
$96,000 For a crate of 200 pieces.
Glassware (from Amsterdam) 800 - -
$128,000 For a crate of 200 pieces.
Jewellery (from Venice) 6,000 - -
$960,000 For a crate of approximately 50 pieces (for example, letter openers, crucifixes, music boxes, inkwells, etc.)
Jewellery (from Spain) 4,000 - -
$640,000 For a crate of approximately 100 pieces (for example, rosaries and rings from Cadiz, bracelets and pendants from Seville, smallswords from Toledo, etc.)
Bar of Gold 1,500 - -
$240,000 For a single 5lb bar.
Bar of silver 50 - -
$8,000 For a single 5lb bar.
Silverware 10,000 - -
$1,600,000 A crate of approximately 200 pieces. (for example, cups, urns, plates, forks, knives, spoons, etc.)
Semi-Precious gemstones 40,000 - -
$6,400,000 For approximately 300-500 gemstones,, weighing approx. 100lbs (for example, opals, topaz, lapis lazuli, etc.)
Precious gemstones 200,000 - -
$32,000,000 For approximately 500-1,000 gemstones, weighing around 100lbs (for example, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, rubies, etc.)
Pearls 12,000 - -
$1,920,000 For approximately 300 pearls (weighing about 30-40lbs)
Ivory 40,000 - -
$6,400,000 For a crate of about 10 tusks.
Sandlewood (from China) 1,000 - -
$160,000 For about 100lbs weight.
Silk 800 - -
$128,000 Per bolt.
Cask of Pepper 200 - -
$32,000
Cask of Cloves 400 - -
$64,000
Cask of Rosemary 100 - -
$16,000
Cask of Ginseng 1,600 - -
$256,000
Cask of Medicinal herbs 800 - -
$128,000
Cask of Vinegar or olive oil 20 - -
$3,200
Cask of good rum 30 - -
$4,800
Cask of poor rum 10 - -
$1,600
Cask of (European) Wine 50 - -
$8,000 This includes wine made in the vineyards of New Spain.
Cask of fine wine 100 - -
$16,000 This is wine from well known wineries and of excellent vintage.
Cask of local fruit wine 30 - -
$4,800 This is made in many different ways and with different fruits.
Cask of Beer 10 - -
$1,600 Beer of acceptable quality (mixes equally with water to make small beer)

[Original Article]

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