It seems that the British pound was
originally based on a pound weight of silver, equivalent to 240 silver pennies (or "sterlings"). I remember the old pre-decimal penny (which was 12 to the shilling, and 20 shillings made a pound) - though it had long since ceased to be made of silver.
Currently, 99.9% pure silver is being bought at
£0.53 per gram. A pound weight of silver (454 grams) would therefore fetch £240.62.
So an old silver penny is worth a new British pound.
An 11th century (Edward the Confessor) penny
But the increased efficiency of modern production and distribution has made things cheaper today:
- Petrol (currently c. £1.40 per litre) would, in silver terms, cost 6d/gallon -
a third cheaper than in 1896! And that's despite the fact that, these days, 60% of the pump price of petrol is taxes.
- Artisan bread from Asda (
currently 78p for 400g), equates to £1.13 for a full pound weight (454g) - a little over one silver penny. Whereas in the year 1758, the old best quality (white)
"penny loaf" got you only 6 ounces 2 drams weight, or 174 grams; so a pound weight of the same would now cost 2.6 silver pennies - more than twice as much pro rata as that Asda loaf.
So we've had inflation, but also a drop in prices.
Silver's the way to go then? But it's also manipulated.
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