Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons license, www.lensicle.com

Money Problems

I love those first lines from that 1973 classic by the O’Jays, For the Love of Money:

Money, money, money, money…Some people got to have it…Some people really need it…

We’ve all been there, right? In the final book in my Sons of the Spy Lord Series (just back from the editor!) my heroine is in that boat. She really needs money to help another character pay a gambling debt.

Deciding how much that debt should be required some research.

The Value of Money in 1821

In light of current monetary values, goods in the Regency period seem incredibly inexpensive. In London Observed, A Polish Philosopher at Large, 1820-1824, Krystyn Lach-Szyrma outlines some of the costs of London in that era. Boarding house lodging was 7 pounds per month, but drinks, desserts, and the services of maids and waiters were extra. Dinner at an inn was 3 shillings. If an inn guest added a private sitting room, the additional cost was 2 to 3 shillings a day.

1. Half-sovereign, Edward VI in the name of Henry VIII 2. Half-sovereign, Edward VI, Third Period

Wages might be 2 or 3 pounds a year for a servant, plus board and lodging. A family needed an income of about 75 pounds per year to live comfortably.

A pound was worth 20 shillings, a shilling was worth 12 pence. For my fellow confused Americans, this post on The British Monetary System before Decimalization might be helpful.

But what was a pound really worth?

The Boss of Bethnal Green, by Julian Woodford, is a biography of 18th century crime boss Joseph Merceron (highly recommended, btw). Woodford addresses the confusion about the value of money in a forward, but the bottom line is this: “When looking at values of everyday transactions…many historians agree that multiplying Regency amounts by a factor of 100 gives a reasonably good approximation of today’s value.”

How much debt works for this story?

Thomas Rowlandson, The Hazard Room

Author Cheryl Bolen has a fascinating post on gambling during the Regency. Some gambling debts could be incredibly high–140,000 pounds for the politician Charles James Fox, for example. Fox’s father, a powerful duke, paid off his son’s debt. 

I settled on a much smaller debt for my story, one thousand pounds. I can’t wait to share this story with you this November!

Regency fans, do you have any good resources for the costs, wages, and values? Please share!

Images: Wikimedia Commons