I am trying to determine the construction date of a house and one of the resources I am using is tax records.  In 1820, here in Charlotte County, VA for the first time taxes were calculated in dollars and cents instead of pounds.  "Isaac"  paid £126.9.3 in 1819 and $3347 in 1820.  I believe this was a large increase in taxes possibly indicating the addition of a house but I need to confirm it.  Buildings were first listed separately in 1821, at which time the property has improvements of $480.  I used several different calculator sites that give you the value of the historic dollar or the pound in today's money to look at the value of the improvements and the taxes, and ended up with a wide range depending on the site.  None of these comparisons is really satisfactory as the differences between the two taxes as calculated is way more than the comparative value of a $480 improvement.  All of the calculators appear to give value only in today's currency.  

My next trip to the Clerk's office I will be comparing "Isaac's" taxes to his neighbors to see if there was a general increase, meanwhile, does anyone have a suggestion as to the comparative value of  £126.9.3 in 1819 versus $3347 in 1820?

Thanks!

Kathy

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