"The real price of every thing, what every thing really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it... But though labour be the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities, it is not that by which their value is commonly estimated... Every commodity, besides, is more frequently exchanged for, and thereby compared with, other commodities than with labour." - Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776

"What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." - Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892.

Purchasing Power of British Pounds
from 1245 to Present

Enter initial year before entering the initial amount.
		using: Retail Price Index Average Earnings
1245 to 1970	1971 to Present
*Initial Year :**	*Initial Year :**
Initial Amount: pounds shillings pence	Initial Amount: £
Desired Year :**
* Select initial year within 1245-1970 range or within 1971-Present range to activate the initial amount field.
** Select desired year between 1245 and Present.
Enter data as a number without a £ sign or commas.
Why not 2012? Why Not the Latest Observations? We use annual data for our computations, therefore, it is necessary to have an annual observation for both the initial year and the desired year. For the indices based on GDP, it is only after the year is over that GDP can be measured. For price indices, the annual observations are usually the average of monthly observations. It would not be valid to compare a monthly observation in the current year with an annual observation in an earlier year. We have created many of the historical series in MeasuringWorth, but the most recent observations are obtained from government agencies. The annual CPI and RPI observations are usually published in the first month or two of the next year, however the numbers for GDP do not come out until later. We strive to get the new numbers up as quickly as possible. Close

The measures used in this calculator are the longest series of their kind: the retail price index and an index of average earnings. See The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to 2010 (New Series).

Other comparison series might be preferable, depending on the context of the question. For more choices but with a shorter time period, consult Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1830 to Present where you will also find further discussion of this issue.

To determine the value of an amount of money in a particular ("original") year compared to another ("desired") year, enter the values in the appropriate places below. For example, you may want to know: How much money would you need in the year 2000, to have the same "purchasing power" as £1 5s 3d in year 1900. If you entered these values in the correct places, you will find that the answers are £81.20 and £307.00.

Prior to February 15, 1971 ("Decimal day," or "D-day"), monetary amounts in the U.K. were expressed as pounds (£), shillings (s.) and pence (d.), where £1 = 20s. = 240d. After 1970, there were 100 pennies in a pound, so one (new) penny = 2.4 old pence. All numbers should be entered in decimal rather than fractional form (for example, 1.5 rather than 1 1/2).

Citation

Lawrence H. Officer and Samuel H. Williamson, "Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1245 to Present," MeasuringWorth, .

URL: www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/

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Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1245 to Present

Why Not the Latest Observations?

Citation

MeasuringWorth is a service for calculating relative worth over time.

Purchasing Power of British Pounds
from 1245 to Present