What was a medieval penny worth?
About $12 in today's gold, or $1.7 for the silver in it. In the fourteenth century it bought a gallon of ale or a night's bed at an inn.
What was in a penny?
The penny was a small coin of sterling silver. After 1351 it held 1.08 g of pure silver, which weighs about as much as a paperclip.
In gold, the crown fixed its worth: the noble of 1351 held 7.74 grams of gold and passed for 80 pennies, so a penny stood for 0.1 g of gold, which weighs about as much as 4 grains of rice. That is how this site turns a medieval wage into gold.
What did a penny buy?
farthing loaf of bread¼d
dozen eggs2 dozen for 1d
gallon of ale1d
night at an inn1d a head
How many pennies was a day's work?
- Farm labourer: 2 pennies a day, when there is work
- Town labourer: 3 pennies a day
- Longbowman: 3 pennies a day on campaign
- Master mason: 6 pennies a day
- Man-at-arms: 12 pennies a day, half a knight's wage
- Knight: 24 pennies a day at war, twelve times a farm hand's
In other words, a penny was half a day's work for a farm labourer, and it bought a gallon of ale.