Are you a RAPper or a RAPscallion?

Name         Value             # of Pence         Date of Issue        RAP’s 2010 Value                 Other names, Cant

Mite            1/8th Penny    .125                    1828/1842                  $1

Farthing      1/4th Penny    .25                      1672                           $2                                               A grig

Ha’Penny    1/2 Penny       .5                        1672                           $4                            A meg, a tonic, or h’pence

Penny          1 Penny          1                        1797 (earlier)              $8                                            A copper

Tuppence    2 Pence          2                        1797 (earlier)             $16                                           Twopence

Thruppence 3 Pence          3                                                          $25                         Threps, thrums, half a fiddle

Groat           4 Pence          4                                                          $34

Tanner        6 Pence           6                       1674                          $50               A half borde, a sow’s baby, a kick,

half a hog, a fiddle, sixpence

Shilling        12 Pence         12                    1663                          $100                                       a borde, a hog

Florin           2 Shillings        24                   1849                          $200

Half-Crown  2 1/2 Shillings  30                    1663                         $250                  A hind coachwheel, a half bull,       

                                                                                                                                              or two and a kick

Crown          5 Shillings           60                 1662                       $500                     a coach wheel , bull, bulls-eye

Half-Sovereign  10 Shillings  120                 1817                       $1,000

Pound           20 Shillings      240                 1797                       $2,000                                   A screen

Sovereign     20 Shillings      240                 1817                       $2,000                                   A goblin

Guinea    1 Pound 1 Shilling 252                 1663                       $2,100                      yellow boy, yellow george

Double Sovereign  2 pounds 480                    ??                       $4,000                        Double Sovereign

5 Pound Coin  5 Pound      1,200                    ??                      $10,000

A Pony         25 Pounds     6,000                                               $50,000                                  A Pony

A Ton         100 Pounds    24,000                                            $200,000                                  A Ton

A Monkey   500 Pounds  120,000                                         $1,000,000                                A Monkey

A Plum   100,000 Pounds     A whole  lot                          $200,000,000                                 A Plum

Money--

Needed to do some research on Regency money and here is what we came up with.

In figuring out what the value today of this kind of money is, I am going to use a few concepts. Darcy has an income of 10,000 a year and Bingley has 5,000. That is in pounds. The Common laborer might expect 15 to 20 pounds a year for his family.

A soldier earned a shilling a day. Or 18 pounds a year, 15 pence a day in the cavalry.

Let’s do a little RAP math. In 2010, a soldier should be earning about $30,000 to start. I am going to round up to $36,000 and bring that to $100 a day, or 1 shilling equals a $100 at the low end of the scale.

This makes Darcy’s money at $20 million and Bingley’s at $10,000,000

But look at Pemberly and Netherfield as we see them thanks to location choices by the directors of the movies. That is the kind of money it would take to run such an establishment. With Netherfield having fifty people on staff, there goes 1000 pounds of Bingley’s money, and that is wages. He has to feed and put all those people in livery as well. It isn’t cheap.