Difference between revisions of "Fantasy Price List"

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I'm basing the following off of sources I've gathered [http://www.hoboes.com/pub/Role-Playing/Fantasy/ here] (see Real History -> Prices), [http://www.enworld.org/archive/index.php/t-3848.html here], and [http://www.roxie.org/books/shoulders/notes2.html here], and will net a few more as time goes by).  The basic assumption is that character's will be purchasing things with silver coins that have 1% of a pound's worth of fine (.999 purity) silver.
+
I'm basing the following off of sources I've gathered. I've compiled the values from these sources and listed the reference prices in pence, along with the date, in case someone wants to use this for any other purpose:
  
−
By this unit one pound Tower Weight is equal to ~71.428571428571428571428571428571 coins.  For... simplicity's sake, this gets rounded to 72.  This still makes the silver coin a pretty large unit, but a bit more tolerable.
+
* [http://www.holoweb.net/~liam/old-books/prices/ Liam Quin's excerpts] from various old books.  Some of it is hard to follow, but intensely valuable.
 +
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/medievalprices.html Kenneth Hodges' price list] Google 'medieval price list' and you'll get a million copies of this.
 +
* [http://www.roxie.org/books/shoulders/notes2.html These notes] covers a few items not mentioned elsewhere.  Typically the price of a Bible.
 +
* [http://www.enworld.org/archive/index.php/t-3848.html A compilation by Brett Evill] from rec.games.frp.dnd.  Not particularly authoritative, as it doesn't list specifics and I have to call into question the accuracy of his measure of the pound (it was sterling - .925, not fine (.999), to my knowledge).
 +
 
 +
Since this is based off of a set of English (and some French) price lists, this is mostly going to reflect an English economy.  GMs who want to make a more realistic setting will keep in mind what England grew and had to import.  In addition, things like the Welsh longbow are definitely an English specialty.
 +
 
 +
Precious metal price can also vary significantly.  Platinum as a precious metal is an anachronism - difficult to work, not innately precious looking, and in historic terms not independently discovered until long after America was being explored by Europeans.  [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1857/grundrisse/ch03.htm This] gives a decent rundown of the variations in ancient times, including mention of gold being less valuable than silver in some areas.
 +
 
 +
Initially, gold is much easier to find and refine than silver.  It often occurs independently, unalloyed except sometimes with silver, and can be easily sifted out of a riverbed, etc.  Silver, on the other hand, most often occurs in various ores, and thus often needs more refinement - and at higher temperatures.  In terms of raw rarity, gold is about two and a half times rarer than silver in the Solar System, but a lot of this is currently inaccessible on Earth.  The current, comparative value of silver to gold is over fifty to one, although raw production is closer to ten to one.
 +
 
 +
For settings that use copper currency, the raw abundance of copper to silver is over a thousand to one.  The modern value of copper is about 70 to 1 compared to silver.  Consider, though, everything that now uses copper and whether or not your setting is even going to begin to compare.  More copper is produced annually than the world's entire historic silver production.  Ancient values for copper rose as high as 100 to 1 or so.
 +
 
 +
== Campaign Stuff ==
 +
For my campaigns, the basic assumption is that character's will be purchasing things with silver coins that have 1% of a pound's worth of fine (.999 purity) silver.  By this unit one British Pound Sterling Tower Weight is equal to ~71.4285 714285... coins.  For simplicity's sake, this gets rounded to 72.  This still makes the silver coin a pretty large unit, but a bit more tolerable.
  
 
* 1 Pound = 72 coins
 
* 1 Pound = 72 coins
Line 9: Line 23:
 
* 1 Farthing = .075 coins
 
* 1 Farthing = .075 coins
 
* 1 Mark = 48 coins
 
* 1 Mark = 48 coins
 +
* 1 Noble = 24 coins
  
 
Obviously, numbers are going to be rounded and adjusted slightly, especially as prices vary over time.  Even then, this is a rough list, and as the first source link mentions, most such economies are barter economies - even with the powerful influence of the Guild or similarly spanning organization.
 
Obviously, numbers are going to be rounded and adjusted slightly, especially as prices vary over time.  Even then, this is a rough list, and as the first source link mentions, most such economies are barter economies - even with the powerful influence of the Guild or similarly spanning organization.
  
−
* Gold is assumed to be 12 times the value of silver in my Exalted games, 10 times in D&D.
+
* Gold is assumed to be 20 times the value of silver in my Exalted games, 10 times in D&D.
 
* Dinars are halved and quartered in Exalted (silver bits).  This is still a fair amount of coin.
 
* Dinars are halved and quartered in Exalted (silver bits).  This is still a fair amount of coin.
 
* In D&D, silver coins still have their tenth-value copper counterparts, which gets close enough to the farthing to be useful.
 
* In D&D, silver coins still have their tenth-value copper counterparts, which gets close enough to the farthing to be useful.
 
* Prices will be adjusted to roughly 1450 terms.  The reference refers to the price, or prices, in pence from the source material, followed by date.
 
* Prices will be adjusted to roughly 1450 terms.  The reference refers to the price, or prices, in pence from the source material, followed by date.
−
* Since this is based off of a set of English (and some French) price lists, this is mostly going to reflect an English economy.  GMs who want to make a more realistic setting will keep in mind what England grew and had to import, as well as the fact that the Welsh longbow was made of a rare natural composite not found elsewhere, meaning its price is easy to inflate in wet, humid climates where glued compounds like the Mongol bow are going to come apart eventually.
 
  
 
== Tools ==
 
== Tools ==
Line 31: Line 45:
 
| Ax || 5 (1457) || 1.5 coins ||
 
| Ax || 5 (1457) || 1.5 coins ||
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Barrel || 3 (1200?) || 2 coins ||
+
| Barrel || 3 (13th?), 9 (1467) || 3 coins ||
 
|-
 
|-
 
| Bellows || 360 (1514) || 100 coins ||
 
| Bellows || 360 (1514) || 100 coins ||
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Bucket || 4 (1200?) || 2.5 coins ||
+
| Bucket || 4 (13th?) || 2.5 coins ||
 +
|-
 +
| Cart || 24 (13th?) || 15 coins ||  
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Cart || 24 (1200?) || 15 coins ||  
+
| Cart (iron bound) || 48 (1350) || 30 coins ||  
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Cart (reinforced) || 48 (1200?) || 30 coins ||  
+
| Chest (coffer) || 12 (1350) || 6 coins ||
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Chest || 24 (1200?) | 20 coins ||
+
| Chest (with clothing) <sup>2</sup> || 26 (1457) || 3 coins ||
 
|-
 
|-
 
| Chisel || 4 (1514) || 1.5 coins ||
 
| Chisel || 4 (1514) || 1.5 coins ||
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Dray <sup>2</sup> || 120 (1200?) || 75 coins ||
+
| Dray <sup>3</sup> || 120 (13th?) || 75 coins ||
 
|-
 
|-
 
| Hammer || 8 (1514) || 2.5 coins ||
 
| Hammer || 8 (1514) || 2.5 coins ||
Line 51: Line 67:
 
| Hammer (good) || 32 (1514) || 10 coins ||
 
| Hammer (good) || 32 (1514) || 10 coins ||
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Mason's Tools <sup>3</sup> || 9 (1350) || 18 coins ||
+
| Mason's Tools <sup>4</sup> || 9 (1350) || 18 coins ||
 +
|-
 +
| Pot (Brass) || 12 (1350) || 4 coins ||
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Pot (Brass) || 12 (1200?) || 4 coins ||
+
| Pot (Ceramic) || .5 (1340) || quarter coin ||
 
|-
 
|-
 
| Shovel || 1.5 (1457) || half coin ||
 
| Shovel || 1.5 (1457) || half coin ||
Line 62: Line 80:
 
|-
 
|-
 
| Spinning Wheel || 10 (1457) || 3 coins ||
 
| Spinning Wheel || 10 (1457) || 3 coins ||
 +
|-
 +
| Stool || 4 (1350) || 2 coins ||
 
|-
 
|-
 
| Vise || 160 (1514) || 50 coins ||
 
| Vise || 160 (1514) || 50 coins ||
Line 69: Line 89:
  
 
* '''1:''' This is a complete set, including tools for plate. At the price of such things, you do the best job you can, and these would be of fine quality.  Simpler, less capable tools would cost a tenth or less do work only with lamellar or mail.
 
* '''1:''' This is a complete set, including tools for plate. At the price of such things, you do the best job you can, and these would be of fine quality.  Simpler, less capable tools would cost a tenth or less do work only with lamellar or mail.
−
* '''2:''' A dray is basically a heavy, sideless cart used to haul things with.
+
* '''2:''' Price is given with clothing.  I made a rough guess about the clothes-unladen portion of the chest for the price.
−
* '''3:''' The source price only lists three unnamed tools, so I work off quadrupling the price, as the entire set of tools was supposed to be a fairly significant cost.
+
* '''3:''' A dray is basically a heavy, sideless cart used to haul things with.
 +
* '''4:''' The source price only lists three unnamed tools, so I work off quadrupling the price, as the entire set of tools was supposed to be a fairly significant cost.
  
 
== Animals ==
 
== Animals ==
 
Draft Horse, Cow, Wether (castrated ram), Ox, Sheep, Chicken, Goose, Pig
 
Draft Horse, Cow, Wether (castrated ram), Ox, Sheep, Chicken, Goose, Pig
 
Goose, Ox, Pig, Sheep, Wether
 
Goose, Ox, Pig, Sheep, Wether
 +
 +
‘Wheat was 6s. a quarter; oats, 3s.; a cow, 12s. 6d.; a sheep, 1s. 2d.; a fat hog, 3s. 4d.; a fat goose, 2½d.; wine, 4d. a gallon; ale, 0½d. a gallon; a labourer’s wages 1½d. a day, in harvest time 2d.; a journeyman carpenter, 2d. a day; a pair of shoes, 4d.; an English slave and his family were sold for 13s. 4d.; a Bible was worth £33 6s. 8d.”’
  
 
{| border="1"
 
{| border="1"
Line 80: Line 103:
 
! Item !! Reference !! Price
 
! Item !! Reference !! Price
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Cow || 43.5 (1350) || 70 coins
+
| Capon || 2.5 (1314) || coins
 +
|-
 +
| Cow || 72 (1285), 113 (mid 14th) || coins
 +
|-
 +
| Cow (good) || 120 (12th?), 150 (1310), 144 (1314) || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Cow (good) || 57.75 (1310) || 200 coins
+
| Chicken || .5 (14th), .75 (1314) || coin
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Chicken || .2 (1350) || quarter coin
+
| Draft Horse || 120 (13th) || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Draft Horse || 46.2 (1250) || 200 coins
+
| Draft Horse (good) || 240 (13th) || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Draft Horse (good) || 92.4 (1250) || 400 coins
+
| Duck ||  || coin
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Duck || .5 (1322) || 1 coin
+
| Falcon || || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Falcon || 92.4 (1350) || 150 coins
+
| Goose || 2.5 (1310), 3 (1314), 6-8 (1375) || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Goose || 2.3-3.1 (1375) || 4.5 coins
+
| Hen (good) || 1.5 (1314) || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Ox || 60.5 (1350) || 95 coins
+
| Ox || 157.25 (mid 14th) || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Pig || 13.75 (1338) || 22 coins
+
| Ox (best grass fed) || 192 (1314) || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Pigeon || .1 (1322) || quarter coin
+
| Ox (best grain fed) || 288 (1314) || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Riding Horse (High Grade) || 924 (1250) || 4,000 coins
+
| Pig || 40 ('fat hog' 1310, 1314), 24 (1338) || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Sheep || 6.5 (1350) || 10.5 coins
+
| Pigeon || .25 (1272-1327), .33 (1377) || coin
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Warhorse || 370 (1250) || 1,600 coins
+
| Riding Horse <sup>1</sup> || 300 (13th?), 2,400 (13th)  || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Warhorse (High Grade) <sup>1</sup> || 7,392 (1250) || 30,000 coins
+
| Sheep || 10 (13th?), 14 (1310-1314), 17 (mid 14th) || coins
 
|-
 
|-
−
| Wether <sup>2</sup> || 3.75 (1338) || 7 coins
+
| Warhorse <sup>2</sup> || 120 (12th), 9,600 (13th), 600 (1374) || coins
 +
|-
 +
| Wether <sup>3</sup> || 9-10 (1338) || coins
 
|-
 
|-
 
|  ||  ||
 
|  ||  ||
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
* '''1:''' Horse prices in general varied wildly.  This is a pretty extreme case, but it would still be a pretty fine beast even outside a fantasy setting.
+
* '''1:''' Horse prices in general varied wildly, and got drastically more expensive as time went on (and, of course, got bigger through breeding).  The former is an example of a typical riding horse, the latter one of high quality.
−
* '''2:''' A Wether is a castrated ram.
+
* '''2:''' As if riding horses did not suffer considerable variation.  Someone paid eighty pounds of sterling silver for a horse in the 13th century, and the value of horseflesh hasn't fallen since.  In any sort of fantasy setting such a beast ought to be a measure of legend.
 +
* '''3:''' A Wether is a castrated ram.
 +
 
 +
== Food ==
 +
{| border="1"
 +
|+ '''Food Price List'''
 +
! Item !! Reference !! Price !! Weight
 +
|-
 +
| Eggs || .05 (13th & 14th)  ||  ||
 +
|-
 +
|  ||  ||  ||
 +
|-
 +
|  ||  ||  ||
 +
|-
 +
|  ||  ||  ||
 +
|-
 +
|  ||  ||  ||
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
== Other Consumables ==
 +
{| border="1"
 +
|+ '''Consumable Price List'''
 +
! Item !! Reference !! Price !! Weight
 +
|-
 +
| Torch || 32 (1489) ||  ||
 +
|-
 +
|  ||  ||  ||
 +
|-
 +
|  ||  ||  ||
 +
|-
 +
|  ||  ||  ||
 +
|}
  
 
== Books ==
 
== Books ==
−
Books in the Middle Ages were typically measured by pecia, or quire.  Though specific sizes varied, this often referred to four leaves (eight pages) for larger pages (two columns per page) and twice as many leaves (sixteen pages) for one-column pages, holding over 30,000 characters and some 7,500 words.  Near as my own research can tell, the Bible was frequently copied with about 150 pecia.  Of course, pagecount varied wildly, but it was always a monstrous book.  The Codex Gigas contains the Latin Bible, and several other works, and was made from the skin of 160 donkeys, making 320 leaves of vellum.   
+
Books in the Middle Ages were typically measured by pecia, or quire (usually called a quaternion then).  Though specific sizes varied, this often referred to four leaves (eight pages) for larger pages (two columns per page) and twice as many leaves (sixteen pages) for one-column pages, holding over 30,000 characters and some 7,500 words.  Near as my own research can tell, the Bible was frequently copied with about 150 pecia.  Of course, page count varied wildly, but it was always a monstrous book.  The Codex Gigas contains the Latin Bible, and several other works, and was made from the skin of 160 donkeys, making 320 leaves of vellum.   
 +
 
 +
Kenneth's compilation gives a sale of 127 books for 113 pounds in 1397, and another sale of 7 books for about 5 pounds in 1479 - nearly three decades after the arrival of the printing press.
  
 
In England, the value of a Bible in 1310 was said to be eight thousand pence.  This suggests a price of over 50 pence per quire, fully illuminated and bound.  Other books of unnamed length went for nearly a pound each, though this is a bit harder to determine, since illumination can be quite expensive.  Writing material came in one of a few varieties:
 
In England, the value of a Bible in 1310 was said to be eight thousand pence.  This suggests a price of over 50 pence per quire, fully illuminated and bound.  Other books of unnamed length went for nearly a pound each, though this is a bit harder to determine, since illumination can be quite expensive.  Writing material came in one of a few varieties:
  
−
* Papyrus - the first 'paper', the plant only grows in subtropical climes, though other reed-like plants can be used depending on the campaign and specific environment.  It does best in low moisture environments, and is extremely brittle, and cannot be folded, preventing most means of making books.
+
* Papyrus - the first 'paper', the plant only grows in subtropical climes, though other reed-like plants can be used depending on the campaign and specific environment.  It is extremely brittle, and cannot be folded, preventing most means of making books.
 
* Parchment - sheepskin, goatskin, or calfskin - usually referred to the former two.  Made by drying out, stretching, cleaning and scraping the skin.  It is quite vulnerable to humidity and heat, with permanent damage beginning at around 70 degrees Celsius.  Humidity causes warps in the material, which set if dried.
 
* Parchment - sheepskin, goatskin, or calfskin - usually referred to the former two.  Made by drying out, stretching, cleaning and scraping the skin.  It is quite vulnerable to humidity and heat, with permanent damage beginning at around 70 degrees Celsius.  Humidity causes warps in the material, which set if dried.
 
* Vellum - typically calfskin, but often meant a high-quality form of parchment, so other sheepskins or goatskins might be so lucky.  Merely considered a better writing surface, it has all the flaws of parchment.
 
* Vellum - typically calfskin, but often meant a high-quality form of parchment, so other sheepskins or goatskins might be so lucky.  Merely considered a better writing surface, it has all the flaws of parchment.
−
* Paper - the original wood-based paper invented in China was prone to destroying itself over time via high acid content, while Europeans tended to use linen or hemp.  Modern processes use methods to create acid-free paper from wood pulp.  While somewhat more resistant to humidity and heat, it is easier to tear than parchment or vellum.
+
* Paper - the original wood-based paper invented in China was prone to destroying itself over time via high acid content, while Europeans tended to use linen or hemp, when they finally figured out how.  Modern processes use methods to create acid-free paper from wood pulp.  While somewhat more resistant to humidity and heat, it is easier to tear than parchment or vellum.
  
 
At the time point used, paper comes significantly down in price, and roughly matches vellum.  Even still, this implies the price of a dead, properly slain animal of not insignificant size for each and every quire of parchment, to say nothing of more expensive sheets of paper and vellum.  For [[Legend of the Five Rings]], remember that parchment means -dead animal- and samurai ought not to have anything to do with it.
 
At the time point used, paper comes significantly down in price, and roughly matches vellum.  Even still, this implies the price of a dead, properly slain animal of not insignificant size for each and every quire of parchment, to say nothing of more expensive sheets of paper and vellum.  For [[Legend of the Five Rings]], remember that parchment means -dead animal- and samurai ought not to have anything to do with it.
  
 
Sheep and goatskin went for minimum of 4 pence in 1322.  Treatment is fairly simple, taking a couple of days and is not quite so labor intensive as weaving masses of crushed papyrus or other reed, which makes the cost of papyrus somewhat competitive, especially as the value of labor increases.  Paper was beginning to get made in quantity by the mid 15th century.
 
Sheep and goatskin went for minimum of 4 pence in 1322.  Treatment is fairly simple, taking a couple of days and is not quite so labor intensive as weaving masses of crushed papyrus or other reed, which makes the cost of papyrus somewhat competitive, especially as the value of labor increases.  Paper was beginning to get made in quantity by the mid 15th century.

Latest revision as of 03:26, 17 February 2007

I'm basing the following off of sources I've gathered. I've compiled the values from these sources and listed the reference prices in pence, along with the date, in case someone wants to use this for any other purpose:

  • Liam Quin's excerpts from various old books. Some of it is hard to follow, but intensely valuable.
  • Kenneth Hodges' price list Google 'medieval price list' and you'll get a million copies of this.
  • These notes covers a few items not mentioned elsewhere. Typically the price of a Bible.
  • A compilation by Brett Evill from rec.games.frp.dnd. Not particularly authoritative, as it doesn't list specifics and I have to call into question the accuracy of his measure of the pound (it was sterling - .925, not fine (.999), to my knowledge).

Since this is based off of a set of English (and some French) price lists, this is mostly going to reflect an English economy. GMs who want to make a more realistic setting will keep in mind what England grew and had to import. In addition, things like the Welsh longbow are definitely an English specialty.

Precious metal price can also vary significantly. Platinum as a precious metal is an anachronism - difficult to work, not innately precious looking, and in historic terms not independently discovered until long after America was being explored by Europeans. This gives a decent rundown of the variations in ancient times, including mention of gold being less valuable than silver in some areas.

Initially, gold is much easier to find and refine than silver. It often occurs independently, unalloyed except sometimes with silver, and can be easily sifted out of a riverbed, etc. Silver, on the other hand, most often occurs in various ores, and thus often needs more refinement - and at higher temperatures. In terms of raw rarity, gold is about two and a half times rarer than silver in the Solar System, but a lot of this is currently inaccessible on Earth. The current, comparative value of silver to gold is over fifty to one, although raw production is closer to ten to one.

For settings that use copper currency, the raw abundance of copper to silver is over a thousand to one. The modern value of copper is about 70 to 1 compared to silver. Consider, though, everything that now uses copper and whether or not your setting is even going to begin to compare. More copper is produced annually than the world's entire historic silver production. Ancient values for copper rose as high as 100 to 1 or so.

Campaign Stuff

For my campaigns, the basic assumption is that character's will be purchasing things with silver coins that have 1% of a pound's worth of fine (.999 purity) silver. By this unit one British Pound Sterling Tower Weight is equal to ~71.4285 714285... coins. For simplicity's sake, this gets rounded to 72. This still makes the silver coin a pretty large unit, but a bit more tolerable.

  • 1 Pound = 72 coins
  • 1 Crown = 18 coins
  • 1 Shilling = 3.6 coins
  • 1 Pence = .3 coins
  • 1 Farthing = .075 coins
  • 1 Mark = 48 coins
  • 1 Noble = 24 coins

Obviously, numbers are going to be rounded and adjusted slightly, especially as prices vary over time. Even then, this is a rough list, and as the first source link mentions, most such economies are barter economies - even with the powerful influence of the Guild or similarly spanning organization.

  • Gold is assumed to be 20 times the value of silver in my Exalted games, 10 times in D&D.
  • Dinars are halved and quartered in Exalted (silver bits). This is still a fair amount of coin.
  • In D&D, silver coins still have their tenth-value copper counterparts, which gets close enough to the farthing to be useful.
  • Prices will be adjusted to roughly 1450 terms. The reference refers to the price, or prices, in pence from the source material, followed by date.

Tools

Tool Price List
Item Reference Price Weight
Anvil 240 (1514) 75 coins
Armorer's Tools 1 3,323 (1514) 1,000 coins
Auger 3 (1457) 1 coin
Ax 5 (1457) 1.5 coins
Barrel 3 (13th?), 9 (1467) 3 coins
Bellows 360 (1514) 100 coins
Bucket 4 (13th?) 2.5 coins
Cart 24 (13th?) 15 coins
Cart (iron bound) 48 (1350) 30 coins
Chest (coffer) 12 (1350) 6 coins
Chest (with clothing) 2 26 (1457) 3 coins
Chisel 4 (1514) 1.5 coins
Dray 3 120 (13th?) 75 coins
Hammer 8 (1514) 2.5 coins
Hammer (good) 32 (1514) 10 coins
Mason's Tools 4 9 (1350) 18 coins
Pot (Brass) 12 (1350) 4 coins
Pot (Ceramic) .5 (1340) quarter coin
Shovel 1.5 (1457) half coin
Spade 1.5 (1457) half coin
Plow Foot Iron 5 (1350) 2 coins
Spinning Wheel 10 (1457) 3 coins
Stool 4 (1350) 2 coins
Vise 160 (1514) 50 coins
Yoke 24 (1350) 12 coins
  • 1: This is a complete set, including tools for plate. At the price of such things, you do the best job you can, and these would be of fine quality. Simpler, less capable tools would cost a tenth or less do work only with lamellar or mail.
  • 2: Price is given with clothing. I made a rough guess about the clothes-unladen portion of the chest for the price.
  • 3: A dray is basically a heavy, sideless cart used to haul things with.
  • 4: The source price only lists three unnamed tools, so I work off quadrupling the price, as the entire set of tools was supposed to be a fairly significant cost.

Animals

Draft Horse, Cow, Wether (castrated ram), Ox, Sheep, Chicken, Goose, Pig Goose, Ox, Pig, Sheep, Wether

‘Wheat was 6s. a quarter; oats, 3s.; a cow, 12s. 6d.; a sheep, 1s. 2d.; a fat hog, 3s. 4d.; a fat goose, 2½d.; wine, 4d. a gallon; ale, 0½d. a gallon; a labourer’s wages 1½d. a day, in harvest time 2d.; a journeyman carpenter, 2d. a day; a pair of shoes, 4d.; an English slave and his family were sold for 13s. 4d.; a Bible was worth £33 6s. 8d.”’

Animal Price List
Item Reference Price
Capon 2.5 (1314) coins
Cow 72 (1285), 113 (mid 14th) coins
Cow (good) 120 (12th?), 150 (1310), 144 (1314) coins
Chicken .5 (14th), .75 (1314) coin
Draft Horse 120 (13th) coins
Draft Horse (good) 240 (13th) coins
Duck coin
Falcon coins
Goose 2.5 (1310), 3 (1314), 6-8 (1375) coins
Hen (good) 1.5 (1314) coins
Ox 157.25 (mid 14th) coins
Ox (best grass fed) 192 (1314) coins
Ox (best grain fed) 288 (1314) coins
Pig 40 ('fat hog' 1310, 1314), 24 (1338) coins
Pigeon .25 (1272-1327), .33 (1377) coin
Riding Horse 1 300 (13th?), 2,400 (13th) coins
Sheep 10 (13th?), 14 (1310-1314), 17 (mid 14th) coins
Warhorse 2 120 (12th), 9,600 (13th), 600 (1374) coins
Wether 3 9-10 (1338) coins
  • 1: Horse prices in general varied wildly, and got drastically more expensive as time went on (and, of course, got bigger through breeding). The former is an example of a typical riding horse, the latter one of high quality.
  • 2: As if riding horses did not suffer considerable variation. Someone paid eighty pounds of sterling silver for a horse in the 13th century, and the value of horseflesh hasn't fallen since. In any sort of fantasy setting such a beast ought to be a measure of legend.
  • 3: A Wether is a castrated ram.

Food

Food Price List
Item Reference Price Weight
Eggs .05 (13th & 14th)

Other Consumables

Consumable Price List
Item Reference Price Weight
Torch 32 (1489)

Books

Books in the Middle Ages were typically measured by pecia, or quire (usually called a quaternion then). Though specific sizes varied, this often referred to four leaves (eight pages) for larger pages (two columns per page) and twice as many leaves (sixteen pages) for one-column pages, holding over 30,000 characters and some 7,500 words. Near as my own research can tell, the Bible was frequently copied with about 150 pecia. Of course, page count varied wildly, but it was always a monstrous book. The Codex Gigas contains the Latin Bible, and several other works, and was made from the skin of 160 donkeys, making 320 leaves of vellum.

Kenneth's compilation gives a sale of 127 books for 113 pounds in 1397, and another sale of 7 books for about 5 pounds in 1479 - nearly three decades after the arrival of the printing press.

In England, the value of a Bible in 1310 was said to be eight thousand pence. This suggests a price of over 50 pence per quire, fully illuminated and bound. Other books of unnamed length went for nearly a pound each, though this is a bit harder to determine, since illumination can be quite expensive. Writing material came in one of a few varieties:

  • Papyrus - the first 'paper', the plant only grows in subtropical climes, though other reed-like plants can be used depending on the campaign and specific environment. It is extremely brittle, and cannot be folded, preventing most means of making books.
  • Parchment - sheepskin, goatskin, or calfskin - usually referred to the former two. Made by drying out, stretching, cleaning and scraping the skin. It is quite vulnerable to humidity and heat, with permanent damage beginning at around 70 degrees Celsius. Humidity causes warps in the material, which set if dried.
  • Vellum - typically calfskin, but often meant a high-quality form of parchment, so other sheepskins or goatskins might be so lucky. Merely considered a better writing surface, it has all the flaws of parchment.
  • Paper - the original wood-based paper invented in China was prone to destroying itself over time via high acid content, while Europeans tended to use linen or hemp, when they finally figured out how. Modern processes use methods to create acid-free paper from wood pulp. While somewhat more resistant to humidity and heat, it is easier to tear than parchment or vellum.

At the time point used, paper comes significantly down in price, and roughly matches vellum. Even still, this implies the price of a dead, properly slain animal of not insignificant size for each and every quire of parchment, to say nothing of more expensive sheets of paper and vellum. For Legend of the Five Rings, remember that parchment means -dead animal- and samurai ought not to have anything to do with it.

Sheep and goatskin went for minimum of 4 pence in 1322. Treatment is fairly simple, taking a couple of days and is not quite so labor intensive as weaving masses of crushed papyrus or other reed, which makes the cost of papyrus somewhat competitive, especially as the value of labor increases. Paper was beginning to get made in quantity by the mid 15th century.

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