| Item | Then | Now | Dollars per penny |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar, 1 pound | 1s | $0.79 | 0.06 |
| Bread, 1 loaf | 2d | $3.69 | 1.8 |
| Eggs, 1 dozen | 1d | $1.39 | 1.39 |
| Apples, 1 dozen | 1d | $6.91 | 6.91 |
| Oatmeal, 18 oz | 1.125d | $2.39 | 2.12 |
| Raisins, 1 pound | 3d | $3.76 | 1.25 |
| Butter | 3.75d | $3.39 | 0.9 |
| Cheese, 18oz | 3d | $4.69 | 1.56 |
| Mandillion | 15s-16s | $250 | 1.3 |
| Bow | 3s | $100 | 2.7 |
| Chicken | 1d | $12 | 12 |
As you can see, if we exclude some of the ratios that are far off from the others, we get about two dollars to the penny. The extreme ratios show us that butter and sugar are cheaper now and chicken and apples were cheaper then.
I've also heard that £1 is equivalent to $1000 to $2000 US dollars. Since £1 = 240d, that means 1d is equivalent to $4 to $8 US. Combining that with my research means that we have a range of $2 to $8 for a penny. To make things easy on us re-enactors, let's say that 1 penny = $4, which means that a farthing is equal to 1 US dollar. Now let's go back and convert Elizabethan wages and coins into current US dollars.
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