ARGGGGGG!

AskHistoriansProTip: Write your answer somewhere other than Reddit before posting it. That way if you hit the wrong button you don't lose your work.... Like I just did.

So, let me sum up the original post.

You can’t just convert the price from a value in the past to current value without compensating for inflation, market value, etc.

£24 in 1660 has a relative worth of £1,842.48 in todays money.

Now that may not sound like much, but you have to remember the changes in the market.

The average salary was roughly £10. Working from that and using this source, we find that a good horse in 1664 could cost as much as £11, a high quality book bought for the Duke of York cost £3, a good pair of shoes was about 20s, around that time cider sold for 4d a bottle, around 1666 a livery coat (servants coat) was about 90s.

So, for someone to pay £24 means that they shelled out a LOT of money, over double the average workmans wages for the year, and more than enough to buy two horses. So to frame it in a modern context, it's as if he spent about $100,000 for it.

I used the Measuring Worth calculator from this website and got the results:

In 2013, the relative value of £24 from 1664 ranges from £3,212.00 to £5,600.00.

*A general guide is that in the early 17th century 1 English pence was roughly the equivalent of one English pound 400 years later. This means that 1 guilder is worth about £24 or US$36.

Also interesting (to me) is a list of what things cost back in the 17th Century, like here.

Other people will be more expert but the National Archive buying power site ( http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/default2.asp) gives a result of £1842. That's equivalent to 342 days pay for a craftsman in the building trade or the price of three horses.