GOLD1350

What things cost in 1350

Every price comes from a record. Each is weighed in gold at the coin standard of its year, priced in today's money, and set against the pay of a farm labourer, who earned 2 pennies a day.

  1. farthing loaf of bread¼d · 14th c.About ⁦$3⁩ in today's gold · Less than a farm labourer's dayPrice fixed by law; the loaf's weight moved with the wheat price. Source
  2. dozen eggs2 dozen for 1d · 1351–60About ⁦$6⁩ in today's gold · Less than a farm labourer's dayClark's manorial series averages 0.51d a dozen. Source
  3. gallon of ale1d · 14th c.About ⁦$12⁩ in today's gold · Less than a farm labourer's dayOrdinary grade; best London ale 1¼d. Source
  4. night at an inn1d a head · 1331About ⁦$12⁩ in today's gold · Less than a farm labourer's dayBed only; food itemised separately. Source
  5. hen4d · London 1363About ⁦$49⁩ in today's gold · 2 days of a farm labourer's payCapon 6d; a plain chicken ½d in the countryside. Source
  6. gallon of Gascon wine4d · London 1331About ⁦$49⁩ in today's gold · 2 days of a farm labourer's payRhenish 8d; sweet Malmsey 16d. Source
  7. day of a master mason6d a day · London 1350About ⁦$73⁩ in today's gold · 3 days of a farm labourer's paySummer rate in the London ordinance; the 1351 statute capped a master freemason at 4d. Source
  8. peasant's sword6d · 1340sAbout ⁦$73⁩ in today's gold · 3 days of a farm labourer's payA cheap sword from a peasant's inventory; the Merton warden's cost 1s 2d in 1296. Source
  9. pair of leather shoes6d · London 1350About ⁦$73⁩ in today's gold · 3 days of a farm labourer's payFixed by ordinance; boots 3s 6d. Source
  10. goose6d · London 1363–75About ⁦$73⁩ in today's gold · 3 days of a farm labourer's payThe mayor fined a poulterer asking 7–8d. Source
  11. pound of pepper1s 5d · 1351–60About ⁦$210⁩ in today's gold · 9 days of a farm labourer's payAbout 1s before the plague, 2s 6d in 1350 itself, then settling near 1s 5d (Rogers). Source
  12. sheep1s 5d · mid-14th c.About ⁦$210⁩ in today's gold · 9 days of a farm labourer's payA Somerset wether went for 9–10d. Source
  13. plough1s 6d · 1351–70About ⁦$220⁩ in today's gold · 9 days of a farm labourer's payThe wooden frame; the iron share and coulter were extra (a foot-iron 5d). Source
  14. pound of loaf sugar1s 6d · 1390sAbout ⁦$220⁩ in today's gold · 9 days of a farm labourer's payFrom the Earl of Derby's household accounts. Source
  15. longbow and 24 arrows1s + 1s 2d · 1341About ⁦$320⁩ in today's gold · 13 days of a farm labourer's payRoyal purchase prices; four days of an archer's pay. Source
  16. pig2s–3s · 1338About ⁦$370⁩ in today's gold · 15 days of a farm labourer's pay2s in Somerset, 3s in London. Source
  17. peasant's wool tunic3s · 1313About ⁦$440⁩ in today's gold · 18 days of a farm labourer's payCloth 8d–1s 3d a yard plus tailoring. Source
  18. year's cottage rent5s a year · 14th c.About ⁦$730⁩ in today's gold · 30 days of a farm labourer's payA craftsman's house let for 20s, a merchant's for £2–£3. Source
  19. fur-lined garment6s 8d · early 14th c.About ⁦$970⁩ in today's gold · 40 days of a farm labourer's payExactly one gold noble. Source
  20. cow9s 5d · 1261–1400 averageAbout ⁦$1,400⁩ in today's gold · 57 days of a farm labourer's pay10s 2d in the 1350s; 6s in 1285–90 (Rogers, Dyer). Source
  21. ox13s 1¼d · mid-14th c.About ⁦$1,900⁩ in today's gold · 79 days of a farm labourer's payThe tractor of the manor. Source
  22. cart horse17s · 1351–60About ⁦$2,500⁩ in today's gold · 102 days of a farm labourer's payRogers' decade average; a gentleman's riding horse cost £4–£5. Source
  23. hand-copied book≈ 18s · 1397About ⁦$2,600⁩ in today's gold · 108 days of a farm labourer's pay126 books bought for £113; a 15th-century Peterhouse copy itemised parchment 6s 9d, copying 36s, illumination 8d, binding 2s. Source
  24. year's food for one adult£2 a year · about 1380About ⁦$5,800⁩ in today's gold · 240 days of a farm labourer's payA groom was fed for 1d a day, a yeoman for 3d; board of a loaf and a gallon of ale a day cost about £3. Source
  25. one-bay cottage£2 · early 14th c.About ⁦$5,800⁩ in today's gold · 240 days of a farm labourer's payTwo storeys; rent 5s a year. Source
  26. year at Oxford£8 10s 8d · 1374About ⁦$25,000⁩ in today's gold · 4 years of a farm labourer's payBoard, clothing and instruction for a well-born student; a poor scholar managed on £2–£3. Source
  27. craftsman's townhouse£12 · early 14th c.About ⁦$35,000⁩ in today's gold · 6 years of a farm labourer's payA working house with a shop, a workshop and room for the workers; two or three bays, tiled roof; a merchant's house was £33–66. Source
  28. squire's ransom£16 · 1360About ⁦$47,000⁩ in today's gold · 8 years of a farm labourer's payEdward III paid it to free the young Geoffrey Chaucer. Source
  29. knight's full armour£16 6s 8d · 1374About ⁦$48,000⁩ in today's gold · 8 years of a farm labourer's payAll the armour in one knight's inventory, probably mail with plates; the helmet alone was 13s 4d. Source
  30. great stained-glass window£56 · 1405About ⁦$160,000⁩ in today's gold · 27 years of a farm labourer's payJohn Thornton's contract for York Minster's Great East Window: 4s a week for three years, £5 a year on time and £10 on completion. Source
  31. warhorse£80 · about 1290About ⁦$230,000⁩ in today's gold · 38 years of a farm labourer's payThe elite 5 % of warhorses; an average appraised warhorse of the 1340s was nearer £10–£16, and William de Bohun lost one valued at £100 in 1339. Source
  32. Harlech Castle£8,190 · 1282–89About ⁦$24 million⁩ in today's gold · 3,900 years of a farm labourer's payCaernarfon with its walls ran to £20,000+. Source
  33. ransom of the King of France£500,000 · 1360About ⁦$1.5 billion⁩ in today's gold · 240,000 years of a farm labourer's payThree million écus for John II, captured at Poitiers, agreed at Brétigny; about four years of the English crown's whole income. Source

What was a medieval penny worth? →See all forty and what they earned →