SC - prices in 1520

[Elysant at aol.com]

- -Poster: <Elysant at aol.com>
 
>  What is being used is the Troy measurement system as adopted by the 
> English
>  for their currency, where the base of 1 Troy pound of silver equals 1 L
>  sterling.  Troy measures were commonly used in currency and precious metal
>  conversions across Europe and therefore make a common base for evaluating
>  prices.  I suspect that the conversion from guilders and stuivers to Troy 
is
>  because the silver penny and its equivalents were the most common measure 
of
>  value in medieval Europe.
  
>  To my knowledge, Troy measure was not used for measuring commodities (other
>  than bread and precious metals) so the price per pound is likely based on
>  the 16 ounce Avoirdupois pound.   

This use of weights is also discussed in one of the medieval price list 
articles I have.  It is a web page, so for those interested, here's the URL: 

http://www.regia.org/costs.htm

On the first page the author states:
"...In its simplest form Early English money was divided into pounds, 
shillings and pence.  Unfortunately the subdivisions were not the same as our 
pre-decimal coinage.  The pound was the Troy pound (approx 11.5 modern ounces 
or 373 g) divided into 240 pennies (making a Saxon penny about 1.55g).  To 
make matters even more complicated, the shilling did not have a constant 
value, varying from 4 - 6 pence, not on the more recent 12 pence".

The other list I have lists items from various times during the MA and is 
compiled from several different book sources.
 
A few cooking related items from that list include:

Dried fruit (e.g.   raisins, dates,                 1 - 4d/lb, up to 6d rare  
?14th c 
              figs, prunes) almonds rice
Spices (cannamon, cloves, mace,             1 - 3s/lb                      
?14th c
pepper, sugar etc.)
Saffron                                     12 - 15s/lb              ?14th c
Wine    Best Gascon in London               4d/gallon              1331
        Best Rhenish in London              8d/gallon              1331         
Cow                                         6s                     1285 - 1290
Sheep                                       1s 5d                  mid 14th c
Pig     Somerset                            2s                     1338
        London                              3s                     1338
2 chickens                                  1d                     14th c
2 dozen eggs                                1d                     14th c
80 lb cheese                                3s 4d                  late 13 c
Salted herring (wholesale)                  5 - 10/1d              1382
Oats    London                              1s/quarter             1338

Also mentioned:
Cost of feeding a knight's or                     L30 - 60             15th c
merchant's household per year               up to L100             15th c       
        
Elysant

 
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