A few weeks ago, I was sweeping the floor at Muddy's Pit BBQ at the end of the night when I happened across a coin in my pile of dirt, which isn't uncommon. Imagine my surprise when I picked it up to find the date inscribed on the dime was 1874!
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| Front of the coin |
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| Back of the coin |
The next morning I brought the coin with me to Lang (then nearly lost it near the Fife Cabin's fire pit!) and added it to Lang's collections.
This coin prompted my thinking - what could it have been used to purchase in 1874 when it was freshly minted? With some research, I came up with the following list:
- One copy of the local weekly newspaper (annual subscriptions could be purchased for $2-$5, depending on the publication)
- A simple, unadorned children's leather pocket book with 4 pockets
- Half a dozen lead pencils (non-rubber tipped)
- A glass 1-gallon jug
- One pound of sugar
- A necktie "designed to supersede all other methods for fastening the bow to a turndown collar"
- 1 yard of cotton goods, best prints
- Simple ladies gloves, fleece-lined
Although 10 cents doesn't seem like much money in today's economy, by using an inflation calculator we learn that something that cost 10 cents in 1874 would cost around $2.06 today. We must also consider that wages and workdays were much different in 1874, and wages would differ based on a worker's skill-set and location as well.
- In the manufacturing industry, male weavers could expect to make between $1.13 and $1.20 per day, while a female weaver would only earn between $0.94 and $1.03. If you were employed to repair the looms, you would make between $1.32 and $2.20.
- Blacksmiths in 1875 could expect to make between $2.09 and $3.50 per day, a carpenter between $2.15 and $3.06 per day, and a painter between $2.15 and $3.97 per day.However, these wage rates are only representative of the manufacturing industry and do not represent the earnings of independent tradesmen.
- Doctors would make upwards of $5 per day, with most receiving an annual salary of $2000-$3000 per year.
- Teachers could make between $0.88 and $2.38 per day depending on if they taught in a city or rural area, and if they were male or female.
Of course we then must also take into account the value of specific items, as that can also change over time. For example, the value of coffee has increased 15 times over what it was worth 200 years ago. Products such as whale oil, bustles, washboards, lanterns, and tin-ware have fallen out of demand with the change of the times, while the value of spices have dropped dramatically with globalization and improved methods of transportation. Technology has also been used in production of modern goods to increase efficiency, keeping prices low.
An example of technology’s effect on product value can be seen in transportation technology between the 19th and 20th centuries. Demand for horse drawn carriages and wagons was high throughout the 19th century as a main method of transportation, but with the advent of the automobile, demand gradually fell. Initially only the wealthy could afford to purchase a vehicle, but in the 1910s and 1920s, Ford began using assembly lines to manufacture their vehicles, cutting down costs and effectively lowering the price so that the middle class could afford to own a car as well. This drastically lowered the demand for carriages and wagons, thus lowering their value.
Today, this coin is worth around $25. Since this coin has been in circulation, the detail on the design has been worn down, though all the words are still legible. High quality 1874 dimes with some shiny lustre remaining can be worth over $100! The same coin if it had been in "mint" condition (never in circulation) would be worth over $1300!
Although the monetary value of the coin has depreciated, the historical value has increased the overall value. So keep a hold of your coin collections - you never know how much they may be worth in the future!
Sources:
Catalogue no. 13, Spring and Summer, 1875. Montgomery Ward, Chicago, 1875.
Clarence D. Long. "The Course of Money Wages during 1860-1890". Princeton University Press, 1960, p. 13-38.
Macon [Daily] Telegraph, Macon Georgia, October 31, 1861, p. 3.
Stockdale, Charles B. et al. "The History of What Things Cost in North America", September 16, 2010.
http://247wallst.com/investing/2010/09/16/the-history-of-what-things-cost-in-america-1776-to-today/.
