Lorna Xixis wrote: > In the fairly stable period of 1766 to 1772, one pound in Pennsylvania > currency converts to $43.80 in 1993 U.S. dollars. At the "sterling" rate of > 20 shillings to the pound and 12 pence to the shilling this places the value > of the shilling at about $2.17 and the pence at about 18 cents. It follows > then, that one dollar in 1993 is equivalent to $9.76 in PA dollars of the > period. There are, however, several other problems to take into > consideration, not the least of which is the fact that any index is an > average for a particular location in time, and doesn't reflect regional > differences. Further, the value of money changes continuously and thus so > does the index. > What would a pound buy in 1776? Jeffrey -- Jeffrey B. Gibson, D.Phil. (Oxon) 1500 W. Pratt Blvd. Chicago, Illinois e-mail jgibson000@comcast.net