In 1860 would ￡100 buy much in Canada? (british pounds-which were used in Canada

Question:ie would it be like 5,000 dollars today or less?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: ie would it be like 5,000 dollars today or less?

it would buy a lot. For one, consider that currency was on the Gold Standard at the time. That meant money was backed by gold, it had the value the same as gold, paper money meant you didn't have to carry around heavy valuable metals anymore. Anyway, an ounce of gold is worth $900 to $1,000 an ounce lately. I believe a pound note was worth an ounce of gold. If so, that's $100,000 today.

well ￡15.oo in the uk in the 1960's would have fed a family for a week and paid the bills,so you can imagine its worth a 100 years before that

Not exactly sure of a direct comparison, but in 1860, 100 pounds was A LOT of money. That was probably comparable to a good percentage of a person's YEARLY wage. Back then people were paid a lot loss, but money also went further.