Where can I find a historical currency conversion calculator?
January 6, 2015 7:09 PM Subscribe
Where can I find an online calculator that will enable me to compare the value of early 19th century British currency (pounds, shillings, pence) to modern-day US currency?
Is there even such a thing?
You may need 2 tools: a US inflation calculator, and a US-UK historical currency converter. Sorry, I only have a rough tool for the first, and none for the second.
posted by LonnieK at 7:20 PM on January 6, 2015
posted by LonnieK at 7:20 PM on January 6, 2015
Not a calculator, but a table and some other info explaining why it's so hard to do a straight conversion.
posted by katemonster at 7:21 PM on January 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by katemonster at 7:21 PM on January 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
Have you tried wolfram alpha?
Like LonnieK said, it'll take 2 searches, one to convert from British pounds to USD and then another to account for inflation.
posted by tinymegalo at 7:22 PM on January 6, 2015
Like LonnieK said, it'll take 2 searches, one to convert from British pounds to USD and then another to account for inflation.
posted by tinymegalo at 7:22 PM on January 6, 2015
It would be easier to convert the historic pounds to current pounds, then the conversion from 2015 pounds to 2015 dollars is pretty trivial.
posted by ambrosen at 12:27 AM on January 7, 2015
posted by ambrosen at 12:27 AM on January 7, 2015
As theatro says, MeasuringWorth is the best guide to historical exchange rates. The Economic History Association also provides a useful set of links to help navigate the MeasuringWorth site.
posted by verstegan at 2:16 AM on January 7, 2015
posted by verstegan at 2:16 AM on January 7, 2015
Here and here.
I can't remember the last time I watched a period drama or read a book without referencing one of these.
posted by phunniemee at 3:37 AM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
I can't remember the last time I watched a period drama or read a book without referencing one of these.
posted by phunniemee at 3:37 AM on January 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
But part of the value (har!) of that site is how thoroughly they discuss the complexities of the question of comparing relative worth over time. So I recommend reading all of their explanations and data and sources and excellent wonkery as well.
posted by theatro at 7:18 PM on January 6, 2015 [3 favorites]