Historical Currency Converter (test version 1.0)
Back to Historicalstatistics.org
How much could 10 french franc in 1898 buy in today's rupees? What was the worth of 1 billion German mark in 1923 or 1000 Polish zloty in 1980? Was an annual wage of 25 pounds per year in 1780 much compared to the wage rates at the time? To answer these questions the Historical Currency Converter uses a short-cut, by comparing the worth of various sums in various currencies in their purchasing power of Swedish consumer goods and the pay of workers in Sweden. Provided a country's purchasing power parity does not change much compared to Sweden, this should give a reasonable accounts of the worth of money over time also for other countries. This is a test version and may therefore contain serious errors. Please contact the author if you detect any errors (rodney.edvinsson [at] ekohist.su.se)
The comparison is based on data gathered within the project Historical monetary and financial statistics for Sweden. The data is complemented with sources from other countries (see list below).
Sources:
- Bank of Greece, Bulgarian National Bank, National Bank of Romania, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, 2014, 'South-Eastern European Monetary and Economic Statistics from the Nineteenth Century to World War II'. Athens, Sofia, Bucharest, Vienna.
- Bohlin, J, 'From appreciation to depreciation – the exchange rate of the Swedish krona, 1913–2008', in Historical Monetary and Financial Statistics for Sweden: Exchange rates, prices and wages 1277–2008 (eds. Rodney Edvinsson, Tor Jacobson and Daniel Waldenström), 133-237. Sveriges Riksbank and Ekerlids, Stockholm (2010).
- Edvinsson, R, 2010, 'The multiple currencies of Sweden-Finland 1534-1803', in Historical Monetary and Financial Statistics for Sweden: Exchange rates, prices and wages 1277–2008 (eds. Rodney Edvinsson, Tor Jacobson and Daniel Waldenström). Sveriges Riksbank and Ekerlids, Stockholm.
- Edvinsson, R, 2010, 'Foreign exchange rates 1658-1803', in Historical Monetary and Financial Statistics for Sweden: Exchange rates, prices and wages 1277–2008 (eds. Rodney Edvinsson, Tor Jacobson and Daniel Waldenström). Sveriges Riksbank and Ekerlids, Stockholm.
- Edvinsson, R, and Söderberg, J., 2010, 'The evolution of Swedish consumer prices 1290–2008', in Historical Monetary and Financial Statistics for Sweden: Exchange rates, prices and wages 1277–2008 (eds. Rodney Edvinsson, Tor Jacobson and Daniel Waldenström). Sveriges Riksbank and Ekerlids, Stockholm.
- Eitrheim, Ø, J T Klovland, and J F Qvigstad, 2004, Historical Monetary Statistics for Norway 1819–2003, Norges Banks skriftserie/Occasional Papers No. 35.
- Feenstra, Robert C., Robert Inklaar and Marcel P. Timmer, 2015, 'The Next Generation of the Penn World Table' forthcoming American Economic Review, available for download at www.ggdc.net/pwt
- Flandreau, M, and Zumer, F, 2004, The Making of Global Finance 1880–1913, OECD, Paris.
- Frank, R., 'INDICES, COTIZACIONES Y TASAS INTERNACIONALES EN EL LARGO PLAZO ', www.anav.org.ar/sites_personales/5/MONEDA.XLS
- Jacks, D, 2006, 'Japan 1885-1926', Excel file, http://gpih.ucdavis.edu/files/Japan_1885-1926.xls
- Kitco.com. http://www.kitco.com/charts/historicalgold.html and http://www.kitco.com/charts/historicalsilver.html.
- Lobell, H, 2010, 'Foreign exchange rates 1804–1914', in Historical Monetary and Financial Statistics for Sweden: Exchange rates, prices and wages 1277–2008 (eds. Rodney Edvinsson, Tor Jacobson and Daniel Waldenström), 133-237. Sveriges Riksbank and Ekerlids, Stockholm.
- Officer, L. and Williamson, S, 2016, 'The Price of Gold, 1257 - Present', MeasuringWorth. URL: http://www.measuringworth.com/gold/
- Officer, L., 2016, 'Exchange Rates Between the United States Dollar and Forty-one Currencies,', MeasuringWorth, 2016. URL: http://www.measuringworth.com/exchangeglobal/
- Prado, S, 2010, 'Nominal and real wages of manufacturing workers, 1860–2007', in Historical Monetary and Financial Statistics for Sweden: Exchange rates, prices and wages 1277–2008 (eds. Rodney Edvinsson, Tor Jacobson and Daniel Waldenström). Sveriges Riksbank and Ekerlids, Stockholm.
- PACIFIC Exchange Rate Service, 'Foreign Currency Units per 1 U.S. Dollar, 1948-2014', http://fx.sauder.ubc.ca
- Reinhart, C, and Rogoff, K, 2002, 'The modern history of exchange rate arrangements: A reinterpretation'. NBER Working Paper Series 8963.
- Simon, O., 2014, 'Black market inflation', Excel file, http://krieger.jhu.edu/iae/economics/Copy%20of%20BlackMarketvsOfficialInflation1-27.xlsx. Accompanied PDF-file: http://krieger.jhu.edu/iae/economics/Introduction_to_the_Implied_Inflation_Rate_Data_Set.pdf.
- Söderberg, Johan, 2010, 'Long-term trends in real wages of labourers', in Historical Monetary and Financial Statistics for Sweden: Exchange rates, prices and wages 1277–2008 (eds. Rodney Edvinsson, Tor Jacobson and Daniel Waldenström). Sveriges Riksbank and Ekerlids, Stockholm.
- Sveriges Riksbank, 1931, Statistiska tabeller. Sveriges Riksbank 1668–1924. Bankens tillkomst och verksamhet. V. Stockholm: Norstedts.
- Sveriges Riksbank, årsbok, various years.
How much was 40,000 gold dragons or three copper pennies in today's money? To answer these questions click on the A currency converter for sums of money in Game of Thrones.
By Rodney Edvinsson,
(Professor in economic history, Stockholm University)
Latest update 10 January 2016