Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

1356

a Novel
Nov 08, 2014
The thing that has most fascinated me is in the Historical Note at the end of the novel: that since the 1350's there has been a 3,000% rise in the price of ale. So I'm trying to figure out what a pint cost in the 1350's: Let's say a pint now costs a pound. There are 12 shillings to a pound, (old money) and there were 12 pence to a shilling, and two halfpennies to a pence and 4 farthings to a penny. So what kind of coin was used to pay for a pint in the 1350's? A slice of a farthing, which in itself is about the size of an American penny? I can't do it without a calculator! (See what I mean about it being fascinating?)