Old Money Conversion

[Gmcd01]

I was hoping someone might be able to help with this rather abstract question:

What would be the value in today's money (Pound Sterling) of �12,000 from 1896?
Yes, I appreciate it is a very long time ago, but if anyone could help that would be great.
Thanks in advance!

[jno]

in 2000 it would have been �4,186,684.80; maybe 10% more now.

http://www.concertina.com/calculator/

[Gmcd01]

jno, you are an absolute lifesaver! Thanks a lot, first time I've posted a question too.

[jno]

don't spend it all at once!

[Gmcd01]

If only! I had to look at some old medical damages awards of which I know very little about- it does seem an excessive award though...

[Octavius]

That�s a fair indication and jno�s 10 per cent from 2000 is almost spot on. But it really depends upon what factorisation method you use and the purposes for the calculation. As it says on jno�s link �There is more than one way to translate prices and values from past times into the present. For different purposes�. They use the �average earnings' calc. For other estimations, in 2006 �12,000 from 1896 would equate to:

�954,630.56 using the retail price index
�1,204,093.76 using the GDP deflator
�5,292,521.41 using average earnings
�6,497,386.82 using per capita GDP
�9,932,228.51 using the GDP

Contrary to jno though, I would be tempted to spend it all at once! Either that or invest it and see what it could be worth in 2100!

[Ethel]

In 2006, �12000 0s 0d from 1896 is worth
�954,630.56 using the retail price index.


I love this site

http://measuringworth.com/calculators/ppoweruk /result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&year_early=1896&poun d71=12000&shilling71=&pence71=&amount=12000&ye ar_source=1896&year_result=2006

[Peter Pedant]

There was actually a bit of deflation in the 1890s - the pound bought more at the end of the decade than at the beginning

A useful rule of thumb is

1914 ........�1

1971 �10 (decimalisation)

2000 or now � 100

so it would be � 1.2 m.

which case did they award damages of �12 000
it strikes me as being very high for that time indeed !

P P

[Gmcd01]

Peter, the case is Kitson v Playfair (1896), one of a select number dealing with the effects of a breach of confidence by a doctor- he spoke of his patient's abortion to the family. It crops up in debate over whether medical ethics are legal/morally based.
I was hoping to write a moot on the issue, but had no notion of what damages the counsels would be expecting to argue for.
Thanks again for all your help everyone - and Octavius, the relative price indexes you mention open up a whole new legal battlefront. :-)

[fredpuli47]

You may have made a typo but ,if not , you should be aware that the plural of counsel is 'counsel', not 'counsels'.