Someone out there must be able to help!

[veekay]

Thanks to Petermas, currently on at Thurso high school I have been asked a particularly taxing question. How much was half a crown. Wel I am old enough to give all the 2/6 bit but can't begin to say how much it would have bought in late victorian Caithness or what its equivilent value is now.

so orgers someone out there must know or be able to point me in the right direction so that I can find out
Over to you
And Thanks

[wifie]

Hi veekay. Half a Crown = 2 and 6 = 12 1/2 new pence today. Sorry I am not a Victorian so can't tell you what it would have bought but I am sure there are some aged orgers out there who might be able to help!

[brew]

Hi veekay. I am sure there are some aged orgers out there who might be able to help!


In this day and age you cant say that, their silver surfers.

[NickInTheNorth]

can't find much literature relating to wages etc in Scotland in that period, but here's a link to a site with some information on Victorian wages etc in England

http://scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/victorian/economics/wages2.html

The following quote is probably a decent indicator:


He found empirically that in 1899 it cost 3s 3d a week for food to maintain a full-grown adult on a diet free of nutritional deficiency.

Taken from:
http://scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/victorian/history/work/nelson1.html

[wifie]

In this day and age you cant say that, their silver surfers.
Sorry did not wish to offend!

[NickInTheNorth]

Just to add a little more to the above.

You could argue that the 3s 3d is an allowance to buy 4lbs of bread per day. Therefore as a large loaf of bread can now be bought for about 50p the modern equivalent would be about £7

Or you could take a minimum wage point of view. The average working week would have been about 60 hours. For that a labourer could earn as little about 10 shillings. Today the same labourer, who would not legally be allowed to work 60 hours (but that's by the by) would be paid at the rate of £5.35, giving a weekly wage of £321.

Or you could take the fact that the DWP seems to believe that a single adult can live on about £45 per week - not including housing costs.

Personally I would go for the minimum wage perspective - it is certainly the most dramatic :)

So your half crown of victorian times could be worth up to £80!!!!

[Scunner]

In the early sixties, a Half Pint of milk delivered each day, was 2 shillings and 4 pence. ie not quite half a crown.

[veekay]

Wow! I knew someone out there would know something. You haven't let me down. Thanks

[Dusty]

This site is quite interesting for comparing monetory values:
http://measuringworth.com/calculators/ukcompare/

[trinkie]

I am an aged Silver Surfer, with memories of leaving school in mid 1950s and going to work in an Accountant's Office for £1. 2. 6d per week !!
I gave my mother 5/- ( that's two times 2/6d for board and lodgings), I HAD to bank 15/- and the remaining 2/6 was for spending during the week.
A night at the pictures was about 9d. a magazine was about 6d. a bar of choc about 5d, toileteries, bus fares, etc etc all had to come from the 2/6. Of course I couldn't afford the pictures every week, so had to juggle with the pennies !
But what fun we had !!! We met our friends and laughed and laughed, we sang and danced or went for cycle runs on old make-do bikes !!
We saved for our clothes - good stuff from Fred Shearer, and shoes from Dan Dunnet - there were no 'bargain' shops around, so we learned how to buy good items which lasted for years.
I was able to make a lot of clothes which was a great blessing - and I am still dressmaking now !
On Budget Day folk would sit around their wireless sets, eagerly waiting for any changes in price. If the price of bread increased by one penny folk were up in arms !! Often the following year, that penny would be taken off again!

This was about ten years since the end of the war and we felt we were so well off.

Good luck to you.
Trinkie

[JimH]

The half crown, often referred to as half a dollar, now twelve and a half pence, how things have changed.
In 1959 as a young soldier, I could put 5 gallon of petrol in my old banger, and still have enough left over from £1 to have a pint of ale.
When we married in January 1971, a pint of milk delivered was 11d and a loaf was also 11d. that is almost 5p today.
When we went decimal in 1971 a packet of Embassy Fags was 2/6d and went to 26p.
I can go on - and many people will tell many similar stories.
But you can get some idea of how things have changed.
In 1969, I was a Mechanic with Herts Fire Brigade and my wages were £60 per month. and for that I was on call as well.

[Cazaa]

Thanks to Petermas, currently on at Thurso high school I have been asked a particularly taxing question.

. . . Sorry, but what is Petermas?

And is this the only thread relating to it?

[veekay]

Petermas is and I quote 'victorian extravaganza' being performed by the pupils of Thurso high school. It is based on the Petermas fair held on 2nd Tuesday in July and was followed by a public holiday. Seems to have started as a religoius festival and ended up as a bean feast for all the people of Caithness.

[Ricco]

Thanks to Petermas, currently on at Thurso high school I have been asked a particularly taxing question. How much was half a crown. Wel I am old enough to give all the 2/6 bit but can't begin to say how much it would have bought in late victorian Caithness or what its equivilent value is now.

so orgers someone out there must know or be able to point me in the right direction so that I can find out
Over to you
And Thanks

I remember when I first came to the UK 10 Woodbine were 1/9d from the fag machine at the corner store down the bottom of Castlegreen Road (not that I smoked - was only a bairn). I suppose a whole pack might have been around 2/6d. That was in 1961. Hope this helps.