Prices (Sea Dogs)

Buying Power

The following section is to give you an idea how much a sum of money can buy. These prices are right for both early and late campaigns (there being little inflation between the two).

1/2d (half a penny): Half a loaf, during the gin craze earlier in the 1700s.

1d (one penny): Enough gin to get drunk on, A day's allowance of coal. Entry to a theatre. A loaf of bread. A pint of wine or ale.

1 1/2d: A pound of soap (by no means as gentle as today's soap, for it might contain traces of lye, a caustic substance), Hourly rate for a boy to chop firewood

2d (tuppence): Enough gin to get dead drunk on "Drunk for a penny, dead drunk for tuppence" A pound of meat. A whole chicken. A night in a dormitory with up to twenty others (dry, but watch your belongings).

3d (threepence): Supper of bread, cheese and beer, Cost of blood-letting for a poor person, Cost of postage of a one-page letter going 80 miles (paid for by recipient). Gallery seat at the theatre. 12-pound Whole Cod Fish, Boston.

4d (fourpence): A quart of beer, A boat across the river. A pound of butter or a dozen eggs.

4d–6d: A pound of cheese (domestic).

5d: A pound of hair powder.

6d (sixpence): A barber's fee for a shave and dressing of one's wig, Cost of sweeping one chimney.

6 1/4d (Sixpence farthing): Dinner for a government clerk (cold meat, bread and a pint of porter)

8d: Cost of an evening at a coffee house, Turnpike toll for a coach and four horses.

8d-10d: A pound of butter.

9d: Cost of an almanac.

10d–1s: 1lb of fat bacon (enough for two working men), 1lb fresh beef, A dozen Seville oranges (they would be used for making marmalade)

1s (one shilling): Dinner in a steakhouse - beef, bread and beer (plus tip), Sign-on bonus for army recruitment: The king's Shilling, Admission to Vauxhall pleasure gardens, Admission to Ranelagh Gardens (although it could be as much as two guineas on masquerade nights), A dish of beef at Vauxhall, 1lb of perfumed soap, Postage of a one page letter from London to New York, 1lb of Parmesan cheese. A box at the theatre. A bottle of rum. A dry place to sleep (per day). Coach ride, from edge to center of London.

1s 2d: Sailor's canvas trousers.

1s 6d: Rate of window tax per window of a house with 12+ windows (1762)

2s (2/-): Cost of 12 yards of gold braid, Weekly rent of a furnished room for a tradesman. A bottle of wine. Cotton or linen stockings. A sailors breeches.

2s 2d (2/2): Daily pay for journeyman tailors. A cotton or linen cravate.

2s 6d (2/6): A whole pig, A tooth extraction, Dinner sent in from a tavern, A chicken at Vauxhall gardens, A ticket to hear the rehearsal of the music for the royal fireworks at Vauxhall

2-5s: An hours or so's entertainment by a lady of the night.

2s 10d (2/10): 1lb of candles.

3s: A cotton or linen overskirt. A straw hat. A sailors cap. A sailors shirt. 1 barrel, cider. One pot, alleged cure for venereal disease, London.

3s 2d: A pair of men's yarn knitted stockings (knitting was fairly new)

3s 3d: A barrel of Colchester oysters.

4s: A gallon of rum. Book: General History of Pyrates.

4s 6d: A petticoat for a working woman. A belt.

5s (5/-): A pound of Fry's drinking chocolate, A bottle of claret at Vauxhall, A box at Drury Lane Theatre (1763), A workman's secondhand coat. A good meal (such as pork or fish, fresh bread, onions, yams and fresh fruit). Good lodgings (per day) with plenty of light in the day and sheltered from the elements. A linen or cotton shirt. Linen or cotton breeches.

4s 9d–6s: 1lb of coffee

5s 2d: A pint of lavender water.

5s 7d: A pair of women's worsted stockings.

6s: A pair of stays (a supportive undergarment) for a working woman. A cotton or linen skirt.

7s: A dozen rabbits in the market, A stout pair of shoes.

7s 6d–16s: 1lb of tea.

8s: A bottle of champagne at Vauxhall. Wool breeches.

8s 8d: A yard of flowered damask (you would need 15½ yards for one dress). A simple hat.

9s: Weekly wage of an unskilled labourer, A piece (14 1/2 yards) of Indian sprigged muslin. Sailor's waist coat.

10s: Cost of Dr Johnson's just-published Dictionary 1756. A corset or bodice. A wool overskirt. A linen or cotton chemise. A sailors jacket.

10s 6d: A bottle of Dr Prossilly's water for the pox (half a guinea was a common professional fee), A ticket to hear Handel's Messiah (Handel on the organ) at the Foundling Hospital, A ticket in pit or box at Theatre Royal, Covent Garden 1763.

12s: A gentleman's meal with four courses (such as suckling pig in a wine and honey sauce, fresh bread, game hen marinated in lemon juice, and pepper, green peppers stuffed with devilled crab, a delicate clam soup, muffins with butter and cheese, lemon sugar crumpets, all served with a sparkling white wine, and later a glass of good scotch to greet the evening). A woollen skirt. A cotton or linen waistcoat. A good pair of shoes.

10s 6d-1 15s: Cost of various wigs

13s 10d: A yard of Mechlin lace.

15s: A plumed hat.

16s: A pair of men's lace ruffles. A bottle of good wine.

17s 4d: A pair of men's silk stockings.

18s-22s: Weekly wage of a journeyman tradesman 1777.

18s: A wig for a clerk in a public office, A brass barometer.

18s 6d: A yard of rich brocaded satin.

£1 (one pound): A whole pig. A worsted wool skirt.

£1-36s (one pound to 36 shillings): Price of carpet per square yard.

£1 1s (one guinea): A fine beaver hat, Twelve French lessons.

£1 6s: A pair of leather boots.

£1 9s: Season ticket to Vauxhall 1742.

£1 10s: A pair of velvet breeches.

£1 12s: A pair of stout silk-knit breeches.

£1 15s: Monthly pay of an East India Company seaman 1762.

£1-2: A silk cravate.

£1-4: A wool waistcoat.

£1-12: A quality wig.

£2 (two pounds): Annual shaving and wig-dressing contract. Silk stockings.

£2 2s (two guineas): A month's dancing lessons.

£2 10s: Annual pay of a ship's boy. A pound of tea.

£3-5: A wool coat.

£3-8: A silk shirt.

£4 10s (four and a half pounds): A suit of clothes for a clerk in public office.

£5: A fine silver hilted sword. A grooming kit (including razor, wash basin, linen, soap, cologne, comb, small shears and a small chamber pot).

£5 5s (five guineas): A silver watch. Doctor, annual retainer for a family, Boston.

£5-10: Silk breeches.

£5 16s 3d: Budget transportation, England to America.

£6: Cost of a night out, including supper, a bath and a fashionable courtesan

£6-10: A silk overskirt.

£6-12: A silk bodice.

£8-30: A silk skirt.

£8-15: A silk chemise.

£10-12: Mules, per head, in Jamaica

£12 4s: Indentured servant (adult European,) Virginia.

£20-100: A silk waistcoat

£27-37 6s: A capital set of surgical instruments, sufficient for most procedures

£30 5s: Sloop, 10-ton trader.

£32: Slave (adult African,) Americas.

£50-150: A silk coat.

£100-8000: Dowry for a women of the gentry or aristocracy.

£1000: Baronet title.

£5750: Total value, 100 acre sugar plantation, Jamaica

£8200: Frigate, 350 ton, 36 gun, fully-fitted.

Cargoes and Treasures

The following list is a by no means exclusive selection of cargoes and treasures:

9s: 1oz Spanish Silver.

£4 6s: 1oz Gold, London.

£10: Cask of Beer

£10: Cask of poor rum

£20: Cask of Vinegar or olive oil

£30: Cask of good rum

£30: Cask of local fruit wine

£50: A 5lb bar of silver

£50: Cask of (European) Wine

£100: Cask of fine wine

£100: Cask of Rosemary

£200: Cask of Pepper

£400: 200 Leather shoes (from Florence)

£400: Cask of Cloves

£600: 200 pieces of Pewterware (from London)

£800: 200 pieces of Glassware (from Amsterdam)

£800: A bolt of Silk

£800: Cask of Medicinal herbs

£1,000: 100lb of Sandalwood (from China)

£1,000: 50 Rugs (from Turkey)

£1,200: 200 Books (from Europe)

£1,500: A 5lb bar of Gold

£1,600: Cask of Ginseng

£1,800: 30 pieces of Furniture (from Paris)

£3,200: 800 Fans (from China)

£4,000: 100 pieces of Jewellery (from Spain)

£6,000: 50 pieces of Jewellery (from Venice)

£10,000: 200 pieces of silverware

£12,000: 300 Pearls

£40,000: 100lbs of assorted Semi-Precious gemstones (usually 300-500 in number)

£40,000: Ivory (10 tusks)

£200,000: 100lb of Precious gemstones (usually 500-1000 in number)

Annual Wages

During the eighteenth century wages could be as low as two or three pounds per year for a domestic servant, plus food, lodging and clothing. A beggar would normally hope to be given between a farthing and two pence in alms, while a parish pauper could hope for a weekly pension of between a few pence and a few shillings. For a young boy chopping wood the going rate was 1 ½ pence per hour, while a porter could expect a penny for shifting a bushel of coal. A waterman would expect six pence to take you from Westminster to London Bridge, while a barber asked the same to dress your wig and give you a shave.

Female domestic servants earned less than men. Wages for eighteenth-century women could range from the £2 or so mentioned above to between £6 and £8 for a housemaid, and up to £15 per annum for a skilled housekeeper. By contrast a footman could expect £8 per year, and a coachman anywhere between £12 and £26. Because they had to provide their own food, lodging and clothing, independent artisans needed to earn substantially more than this. £15 to £20 per year was a low wage, and a figure closer to £40 was needed to keep a family. The middling sort required much more still and could not expect to live comfortably for under £100 per year, while the boundary between the "middling sort" and the simply rich was in the region of £500. The First Lord of the Treasury enjoyed an annual salary of £4,000.

£5 5s: Housemaid, London

£12 16s: Sailor, Navy

£13: Police; Guard; Watchman

£16 5s: Teacher, England

£18: Farm Laborer, England

£19: General Labourer

£22: Government low-wage

£22: Miner

£31: Messenger; Porter (exc. govt.)

£33 3s: Able Sailor, Merchant Marine

£44: Clerk (exc. govt.)

£44 15s: Shopkeeper, England

£52: Surgeon; Medical Officer

£63: Government high-wage

£65 2s: Captain, Merchant Marine

£100: Clergyman

£112 15s: Attorney, England

£113: Solicitor; Barrister

£131: Engineer; Surveyor

£300: Governor, North Carolina

£300: Country Squire, England

£1200: Governor, New York

£3000: Gentleman, England

£25000: Duke of Newcastle

Other Earnings

£50: Daniel Defoe’s Book Advance for Robinson Crusoe

£540: Annual Profit, 100-acre Sugar Plantation, Jamaica

£7500: Annual Profit, 500-acre Sugar Plantation, Barbados

Bounties

£1000: Henry Avery

£500: Nicholas Browne/Christopher Winter

£200: Dick Turpin, Highwayman

£100: Teach’s head

£40: Any of Teach’s commanders

£20: Teach's quarter master or carpenter