Purchasing Power of a dollar er quarter eagle in 1805

mrearlygold

I really like these old gold coins that have seen so much circulation and use. This ones net graded Good details.




Does anyone know what the purchasing power of the dollar was in 1805, what that quarter eagle would purchase? It would be a neat graph to show where the value of this old American gold coin has been thruout the centuries while someone or some people put it to use!

ChrisRx

Whoops. math error.

Try: $36.76

edited to add:

Got this number using cpi

mrearlygold

Is that for a dollar or 2 1/2 dollars?

oops It's late.






edited to add "oops"

HoledandCreative

That had to be a week's wages for many people. I wonder how hard it was to find somebody who could "break" it. I think 250 1799 Large Cents would do the trick. Even worn ones would be ok. Not too worn or you'll have to find some 1802 Half Dimes.

ChrisRx

That is for $2.50.

RedTiger

I found these prices at this interesting site:
http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/data.php#unitedstates

link

From 1804 Vermont:
eggs 12 cents a dozen
maple sugar 10 cents a pound
apples 22 cents a bushel
butter 15 cents a pound

There are a lot more places, a lot more prices at the site.

I didn't find wages in the quick search. I did find a reference to 25 cents a day in 1850 in Virginia at:
http://www.nps.gov/archive/apco/sanslyd.htm
link2



<< <i>Wages changed with the constant economic flux. In 1850, the daily wage for a laborer (with bed and board) was 25 cents. By 1860, the average worker's salary had doubled to 50 cents a day. A skilled laborer -- such as a carpenter -- had a wage increase from 62 cents a day to one dollar (without board). >>

19Lyds

I expect that in 1805, that coin was reserved for only the upper class segment of American Society.

I also expect that many of the gold coins that folks collect were handled only by those that hob nobbed with the upper class or that catered to the upper class.

I say this based upon my own life's experience as when I started in the workforce as a young man, $3.00 an hour was nearly double the current "minimum wage" and that was nearly 30 years AFTER the great depression.

Boom

Considering the buying power of half cents, cents, two cents, 3 cents etc, etc back then -

a Dollar was a fortune and one could purchase many things with one!

pursuitofliberty

Since the standard of living, the general costs of living and the labor conditions are so much different today that in 1805, it is quite difficult to calculate what the value if a quarter eagle was worth then in todays terms.

Following and sniffing some links that redtiger provided and a few others I found, it appears the average farm workers and laborers wages on the more productive areas of the East Coast between 1800 and 1810 was approximately $10. per month with board.

So a quarter eagle seems to have been about a weeks wage. I'm not really sure how to comapre that to today, but I figure there are a lot of young men and women in our country working at semi-skilled jobs that make in the 1400. a month range for full time work. Take away their cost of Board (rent and utilities for two people living together in a modest apartment; probably a cost to them of no less than 800.) and I would suspect it is the rough equivelent of about $1000. today.

I ran several other numbers I found and came up with the same type of data.

So while the CPI may calculate it at ~$37., if you are to base the value on labor dollars that isn't even close.

I think for sure a quater eagle was worth more than having a couple 20.'s in your wallet today ... quite a bit more.

Looking at cost of items such as leather boots, a cord of wood, some food items and even some services that I could find which should roughly be priced the same for labor dollars earned ... it appears that a factor of about 120 to 180 is easily applied, meaning that it is quite probable that a quarter eagle was like having a few 100.'s in your wallet today.

Of course, if you step back and think about it ... that IS almost exactly what a quarter ounce of gold is worth today.

melvin289

I really can't say about 1805 but in 1960 it would have done a lot for you. You could have bought 12 packs of cigarettes, 25 colas, 50 candy bars, took 9 friends to a Saturday movie with you if you were under 12 years old. A loaf of bread was 29¢, gas was 29¢ a gallon, a comic book was 10¢. You could get a Coke a hot dog and a bag of chips for 30 or 35¢ depending on the size of the bag of chips. A hamburger was a quarter at the grill or 18¢ at Hardees.

In 1965 I took my first job, (a summer job) for 85¢ an hour.

tjkillian

In 1805 you could purchase five sack-back Windsor chairs.

mrearlygold

<< <i>I really can't say about 1805 but in 1960 it would have done a lot for you. You could have bought 12 packs of cigarettes, 25 colas, 50 candy bars, took 9 friends to a Saturday movie with you if you were under 12 years old. A loaf of bread was 29¢, gas was 29¢ a gallon, a comic book was 10¢. You could get a Coke a hot dog and a bag of chips for 30 or 35¢ depending on the size of the bag of chips. A hamburger was a quarter at the grill or 18¢ at Hardees.

In 1965 I took my first job, (a summer job) for 85¢ an hour. >>




I think I shoveled snow out of neighbors driveways for 5 bucks not long after that.

The good old days

Baley

not doubting that the piece saw quite a bit of actual circulation and spending, but I'd be willing to bet that the coin received the majority of the wear as a pocket piece.

PerryHall

<< <i>I'd be willing to bet that the coin received the majority of the wear as a pocket piece. >>



Agree. Once a gold coin received extensive wear, it was valued at it's weight in gold.