Thanks so much Michael for your reply giving me volume and page in Henings'
Statutes. I am ashamed of myself for not finding it on my own, as I own the
set. Really did look--but under "Money" and "Paper Money" rather than
"Depreciation", so missed it. The reference given in the Loudoun County
public claims is right on the money [no pun intended]: "In the year one
thousand seven hundred and eighty. . . May, one hundred and fifty"
[percent-- the amt. of depreciation]. The public claim gave the amount as
30,000:200.
It was depreciating fast--the next month it was two hundred and fifty, and
by the end of 1781 it was one thousand. Just like the history books say!
This answers the first half of my question perfectly. Again thanks.
And thanks very much to all who have written. I have looked up the
references you have given me and they have shed much light on the subject of
how to determine the wealth of those living in the 18th century compared
with today's.
Netti
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michael Nicholls
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2009 10:35 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Depreciation of money during Rev War period
In Hening 's Statutes vol 10 pp 471-474 [ November 1781] there is an
act that establishes the rates of depreciation by month starting in
Jan 1777 and ending in December 1781 that might prove useful. See too
462-68 for the same scale for pay for officers and men etc--Mick
Nicholls
On Jan 16, 2009, at 7:30 AM, Tarter, Brent (LVA) wrote:
> Netti Schreiner-Yantis asked the other day about Revolutionary War
> inflation. A recent Web site contains some general information and
> references to some of the leading scholarship:
>
> http://mises.org/story/1273
>
> When it comes to attempts to translate currency values for the
> eighteenth century into twenty-first century values, I have always
> believed that was a more misleading than helpful exercise because what
> was valuable and available then isn't now. What is more interesting is
> to use whatever standards of value were employed at a given time to
> compare items of merchandize, rates of taxation, personal prosperity,
> and the like to get a better informed sense of how a person or a
> family
> or a group or a place stacks up against others.
>
> $0.02 American (such as it is, these days) from
>
> Brent Tarter
> The Library of Virginia
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Please visit the Library of Virginia's Web site at
> http://www.lva.virginia.gov
>
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