Comparing the value of money from one century to another is never an exact science, but the book An Elegant Madness, High Society in Regency England spends a chapter discussing the relative values and costs of living during that period in England. The author suggests that a general guideline that can be used to compare the cost of an item in about 1812 to current values is to multiply the 1812 price by a factor of 50. Thus a loss of 1000 pounds at the hazard table at White's Club would approximate losing 50,000 in today's money.

The same book offers some additional information for comparing the cost of living. In 1796, Mary Berry prepared for her finance' an estimate of what she believed their household expenses would be upoin their marriage. The Berry family was not wealthy compared to the company they kept

Decoding British Currency

In Britain the pound Sterling was the central unit of money. Prior to decimalization in 1971, one pound was divided into twenty shillings, and each shilling was divided into twelve pennies or pence:
1 pound = 20 Shillings
1 Shilling = 12 Pence
240 Pence = 1 pound

The pound was represented, as it still is, by a £ sign, the shilling by a 's' and the penny by a 'd' (for 'denarius', a Roman silver coin which was also the name for the English silver penny). So the meaning of £3-4s-6d is fairly obvious. But amounts below a pound could also be written 12/6 meaning 12s-6d, or 10/-, or sometimes 10/=, meaning ten shillings. An amount such as 12/6 would be pronounced 'twelve and six' as a more casual form of 'twelve shillings and sixpence'.

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