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How much did a pint of beer cost in 1774?

WeissWeiss Posts: 9,935 ✭✭✭✭✭
in World & Ancient Coins Forum
I'd like to get nice period coins from England and the US to match my John Payne sterling pint mug...

image

image
We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
--Severian the Lame

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    ProofArtworkonCircsProofArtworkonCircs Posts: 4,223 ✭
    Is this the English pint or present day US? The imperial pint is 20% larger than the US pint although it has 25% more ounces (although smaller) in it.
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    coinkatcoinkat Posts: 22,795 ✭✭✭✭✭
    nice item-

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

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    MacCrimmonMacCrimmon Posts: 7,054 ✭✭✭
    Make sure your 'pop-up' smashers are working


    Anyway, you should "go large" and set that table wit a chunk o' meat, a small loaf of bread, and fill that John Payne mug with some porter. That'll be a sixpence farthing, you git....and, no tipping the wenches.
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    worldcoinguyworldcoinguy Posts: 2,999 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>[L]http://footguards.tripod.com/08HISTORY/08_costofliving.htm[/L]
    >>



    Fascinating info on the historical context of money.
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    worldcoinguyworldcoinguy Posts: 2,999 ✭✭✭✭
    Forgot to mention - neat purchase OP.
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    wybritwybrit Posts: 6,953 ✭✭✭
    How much did a pint of beer cost in 1774?

    Ajaan should know the answer to this, since I believe he was drinking age by then.
    Former owner, Cambridge Gate collection.
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    TwoKopeikiTwoKopeiki Posts: 9,539 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>How much did a pint of beer cost in 1774?

    Ajaan should know the answer to this, since I believe he was drinking age by then. >>



    Ahahahahaha. image

    8 Reales Madness Collection
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    Jinx86Jinx86 Posts: 3,672 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would love to find a mug like that. Closest Ive found so far is a sterling letter opener from London during the early 1700's
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    WeissWeiss Posts: 9,935 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thank you, everyone, especially MacCrimmon. Cool site. So...

    If enough gin to get drunk on was 1d, then would you guys think that a pint of beer would be maybe a farthing? That seems logical.

    I use her primarily for my own homebrew image I posted a few pics when I first got her, but here are a few others...

    image

    image

    image

    image
    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
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    MacCrimmonMacCrimmon Posts: 7,054 ✭✭✭
    I want to see a big, gnarly hunk of red meat (add a couple of flies for realism), a chunk of crusty bread, and some slightly moldy cheese with that tankard.

    Oh yeah, crack out that guinea and lay it next to the plate. image
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    WeissWeiss Posts: 9,935 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I want to see a big, gnarly hunk of red meat (add a couple of flies for realism), a chunk of crusty bread, and some slightly moldy cheese with that tankard.

    Oh yeah, crack out that guinea and lay it next to the plate. image >>



    Except I've been vegan for 12 years image
    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
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    ajaanajaan Posts: 17,125 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Ajaan should know the answer to this, since I believe he was drinking age by then. >>


    . . . and Wybrit was serving it up.

    DPOTD-3
    'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'

    CU #3245 B.N.A. #428


    Don
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    coinkatcoinkat Posts: 22,795 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Maybe there can be a subsection of the World coin forum dedicated for World steins... seems reasonable as the other side has the Why Coin Dealers Drink threads which are usually entertaining...

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

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    BSBS Posts: 1,318 ✭✭✭
    That's very cool.image The site Mac linked says a quart of beer was fourpence.
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    WeissWeiss Posts: 9,935 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>That's very cool.image The site Mac linked says a quart of beer was fourpence. >>



    That would make a pint of beer tuppence (2 pints to a quart). That seems expensive if enough gin to get a man drunk was only 1d.

    But it appears ale was heavily taxed around the time. And, according to this source, gin was 160 proof (compared to modern gin at about 80 proof).

    So maybe the tuppence cost is correct. That still seems high but I guess it's right. Thoughts?
    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
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    determineddetermined Posts: 771 ✭✭✭
    Colonial American tavern prices

    These prices in 1806 are higher than I would have expected:



    << <i>[1806: Salem County]
    Best dinner with pint of good beer or cider 37.5 cents
    Best breakfast, of tea, coffee or chocolate, loaf sugar 31 cents
    Ditto of cold meat with a pint of good beer or cider 25 cents
    ---Old Inns and Taverns in West Jersey     >>



    It's obvious why small denomination Spanish silver enjoyed extensive circulation among colonial and early American citizenry. It would be cumbersome carrying all your payments in only cents.

    One reale = 12 and ½ cents
    2 reales = 25 cents

    For the above listed prices a 2 reales or a one reale with a 2 reales covers the costs perfectly.

    This may be the main reason why the survival rate of mid to high grade 2 reale specimens is far below the 8 Reales which were retained by banks as specie to cover large business transactions.


    I collect history in the form of coins.
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    SmEagle1795SmEagle1795 Posts: 2,136 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Make sure your 'pop-up' smashers are working


    Anyway, you should "go large" and set that table wit a chunk o' meat, a small loaf of bread, and fill that John Payne mug with some porter. That'll be a sixpence farthing, you git....and, no tipping the wenches. >>



    That was a very interesting read!
    Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection
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    LochNESSLochNESS Posts: 4,829 ✭✭✭
    A nice addition to this "Revolutionary Beer" collection would be an "Age of Mead" set from circa 1000 AD. You could get a nice copy of Beowulf the Geat ... a leg of boar ...
    ANA LM • WBCC 429

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    Top 10 • FOR SALE

    image
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    MacCrimmonMacCrimmon Posts: 7,054 ✭✭✭


    << <i>A nice addition to this "Revolutionary Beer" collection would be an "Age of Mead" set from circa 1000 AD. You could get a nice copy of Beowulf the Geat ... a leg of boar ... >>




    Leg of boar? OMG, you just sent Weiss into a fit of spasming convulsions. image
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    NumbersUsacomNumbersUsacom Posts: 1,457 ✭


    << <i>Colonial American tavern prices

    These prices in 1806 are higher than I would have expected:



    << <i>[1806: Salem County]
    Best dinner with pint of good beer or cider 37.5 cents
    Best breakfast, of tea, coffee or chocolate, loaf sugar 31 cents
    Ditto of cold meat with a pint of good beer or cider 25 cents
    ---Old Inns and Taverns in West Jersey     >>



    It's obvious why small denomination Spanish silver enjoyed extensive circulation among colonial and early American citizenry. It would be cumbersome carrying all your payments in only cents.

    One reale = 12 and ½ cents
    2 reales = 25 cents

    For the above listed prices a 2 reales or a one reale with a 2 reales covers the costs perfectly.

    This may be the main reason why the survival rate of mid to high grade 2 reale specimens is far below the 8 Reales which were retained by banks as specie to cover large business transactions. >>



    Good info
    NumbersUsa, FairUs, Alipac, CapsWeb, and TeamAmericaPac
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    bidaskbidask Posts: 13,865 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Buffalo Wild Wings is the leading provider of beers on a retail bAsis.
    I manage money. I earn money. I save money .
    I give away money. I collect money.
    I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.




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    LochNESSLochNESS Posts: 4,829 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>A nice addition to this "Revolutionary Beer" collection would be an "Age of Mead" set from circa 1000 AD. You could get a nice copy of Beowulf the Geat ... a leg of boar ... >>


    Leg of boar? OMG, you just sent Weiss into a fit of spasming convulsions. image >>


    Well, I don't actually eat boar myself (being the good Jew that I am) however it seemed more appropriate than turkey image

    edit: I am also shocked by those prices! My dad used to tell stories about going to the movies in the 1950s. With one quarter (25¢) he could buy a movie ticket, a soda and a slice of pizza. image
    ANA LM • WBCC 429

    Amat Colligendo Focum

    Top 10 • FOR SALE

    image
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    WeissWeiss Posts: 9,935 ✭✭✭✭✭
    So I've been looking for an appropriate piece, thinking about a few English pences (?), maybe a Rosa Americana, Wood's Hibernia, or Virginia half pence pieces. Nothing's been floating my boat so far.

    Looking through part of my collection tonight I came across a raw reale I'd totally forgotten I got from my B&M back in April for a whopping $20.

    I really want something earlier than 1776, but I think these pieces have a certain applicability, especially given determined's post detailing items in reale-denominated prices.

    Is this a Potosi piece? Any other info about it would be appreciated!

    image

    image

    image
    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
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    Steve27Steve27 Posts: 13,274 ✭✭✭
    Nice display. I would include apples, since a pint of cider was probably more common than beer in North America during this time frame.
    "It's far easier to fight for principles, than to live up to them." Adlai Stevenson
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    Steve27Steve27 Posts: 13,274 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>Ajaan should know the answer to this, since I believe he was drinking age by then. >>


    . . . and Wybrit was serving it up. >>




    ROFL (slam/counter-slam)!
    "It's far easier to fight for principles, than to live up to them." Adlai Stevenson
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    Type2Type2 Posts: 13,985 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Need to put a pheasant next to all that. imageimage


    Hoard the keys.
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    WillieBoyd2WillieBoyd2 Posts: 5,038 ✭✭✭✭✭
    This one must have paid for many beers, it is so worn:

    image
    Spanish Mexico 2 Reales 1776

    image
    https://www.brianrxm.com
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    determineddetermined Posts: 771 ✭✭✭

    That is a very cool picture!

    image


    Both Weiss's one reale and WillieBoyd2's 2 reales must have paid for beer at sometime in their well circulated lives.

    I collect history in the form of coins.
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    WillieBoyd2WillieBoyd2 Posts: 5,038 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Weiss' coin is from Potosi, Bolivia.

    The intials "P-R" were the assayers at the Potosi Mint for 1776-1795.

    image
    https://www.brianrxm.com
    The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
    Coins in Movies
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    OldEastsideOldEastside Posts: 4,602 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You should ask those dealers that drink

    Steve
    Promote the Hobby
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    WeissWeiss Posts: 9,935 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Nice display. I would include apples, since a pint of cider was probably more common than beer in North America during this time frame. >>



    image

    One of the coolest (pun intended) things about this mug is that it turns ice cold the second you pour cold liquid into it. Silver is such a great conductor that it frosts up on the outside instantaneously image
    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
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