What would have been the price of a loaf of bread in 1645 Amsterdam?
score:30
According to this database (specifically the spreadsheet file, column D) a 100kg of rye bread cost 8.22 guilder in the western Netherlands in 1645, which should at least give you a rough idea to start with. (Here is the same spreadsheet shared on Google Docs for convenience). Using @JustCal's suggestion of 3lb per loaf, this works out to roughly 0.1 guilder per loaf.
I think your best bet for more info is to look at the work of Jan de Vries, for example the article "Taxing the Staff of Life: The Dutch bread tax, 1574-1855" and the book The Price of Bread: Regulating the Market in the Dutch Republic.
EDIT: Regarding wages, this page on "Money in the 17th century Netherlands" claims, "An outdoor laborer earned 6.50 guilders per week... A master carpenter earned 9 guilders per week... Wages did not change for 150 years." I am fairly certain de Vries has more data on wages and I will update if I can track this down.
Upvote:19
I don't think you're going to find anything close to the precision you are asking for here. And as DevSolar has commented I think you are way off the mark by specifying prices in gold.
I do have one example for you though: In his Autobiography Benjamin Franklin recounts his journey as a young man in 1723 from Boston to Philadelphia by way of New York (and accidentally Brooklyn). He has walked, rowed, sailed etc for days and days. He famously accounts his arrival in Philadelphia as follows (emphasis mine):
I was very hungry; and my whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch dollar, and about a shilling in copper. The latter I gave the people of the boat for my passage, who at first refus'd it, on account of my rowing; but I insisted on their taking it. A man being sometimes more generous when he has but a little money than when he has plenty, perhaps thro' fear of being thought to have but little.
Then I walked up the street, gazing about till near the market-house I met a boy with bread. I had made many a meal on bread, and, inquiring where he got it, I went immediately to the baker's he directed me to, in Second-street, and ask'd for bisket, intending such as we had in Boston; but they, it seems, were not made in Philadelphia. Then I asked for a three-penny loaf, and was told they had none such. So not considering or knowing the difference of money, and the greater cheapness nor the names of his bread, I bade him give me three-penny worth of any sort. He gave me, accordingly, three great puffy rolls. I was surpris'd at the quantity, but took it, and, having no room in my pockets, walk'd off with a roll under each arm, and eating the other. Thus I went up Market-street as far as Fourth-street, passing by the door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father; when she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance. Then I turned and went down Chestnut-street and part of Walnut-street, eating my roll all the way, and, coming round, found myself again at Market-street wharf, near the boat I came in, to which I went for a draught of the river water; and, being filled with one of my rolls, gave the other two to a woman and her child that came down the river in the boat with us, and were waiting to go farther.
Philadelphia in 1723 is not Amsterdam in 1645 but you get the general idea... (at least we are near a harbour): bread is sold by the penny not the gold piece.
Some things to note:
The price of bread in Philadelphia is substantially lower (3x?) than in his native Boston.
The types of bread offered in the two places is different, this may make your comparisons difficult even if you find the data.
More post
- 📝 What was the actual dispute that triggered the March 2013 anti-Muslim riots in Myanmar?
- 📝 In the "Immigrationist theory" of Romanians (Vlachs), how did they became the vast majority in Transylvania?
- 📝 Who were the first leaders of the Yahwistic sect?
- 📝 Eastern and Southern Europe in the medieval time period?
- 📝 Has any country ever 'sold' a part of it's territory voluntarily to another?
- 📝 What kings were considered to be divine by Ancient Egyptians, according to DIODORUS SICULUS?
- 📝 What happened to the wealth of the Rothschild banking family?
- 📝 Who wrote about Hermes Mercury?
- 📝 What was the heaviest example of horse armor (barding) from 16th and 17th centuries?
- 📝 What kind of heating did Moscow have in the early Soviet Union (1917 - 1930)?
- 📝 How have they traditionally handled safety on submarines in regards to "surface cruising"?
- 📝 Who was Déū Singh Baru, final raja of Nuwakot, Kakani?
- 📝 When and how did the presidents of states became governors in the U.S.A?
- 📝 "Peace, land, and bread!" Or not?
- 📝 Were there trains to anonymous concentration camps?
- 📝 Based on his service record, where was this soldier deployed in WW2?
- 📝 Size of Viking armies and raiding parties in 9th-10th centuries?
- 📝 What precipitated the Meiji restoration?
- 📝 Was Roman expansion & casus belli as just as they claimed?
- 📝 Why didn't global trade and investment prevent World War I from erupting in Europe?
- 📝 What was Ghulam Ahmad's relationship with the British authorities in India?
- 📝 Luftwaffe Operations from Syria/Iraq in 1942
- 📝 Where can I find documents on the 1992 fight between French soldiers and Somalian fighters?
- 📝 What factors contributed to the popularity of Eastern cultures in the USA in late 20th century?
- 📝 How did 15th century royals identify themselves in England/Spain?
- 📝 What did Central America export in the early 20th century other than coffee and bananas?
- 📝 Why did the French Army melt film during WWI?
- 📝 Why didn't Portugal found universities in its colonies like Spain?
- 📝 Did emperor Kangxi indirectly contribute to China's massive population and subsequent problem?
- 📝 What did Golden Horde get out of the alliance with Mamluks?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What would have been the price of a loaf of bread in 1645 Amsterdam?
- 📝 What would have been the typical drinks for a US farmer in the late 18th/early 19th century?
- 📝 What courses would have been required to get a B.A. in America in the 1930s?
- 📝 What would have been the carrying capacity for 11th-13th century backpacks?
- 📝 What would have been on the menu in an Ancient Egyptian tavern?
- 📝 What psychology would have been taught at the 19th century Lyceum?
- 📝 What would the Royal Sussex Regiment have been doing in South Africa between 1900-1902?
- 📝 What materials would have been used in the ancient Mesopotamian crown?
- 📝 What would have been the signal that Pontiac would have given to attack in Fort Detroit?
- 📝 What knowledge may have been lost at the Library of Alexandria?
- 📝 Where would the first nuke have been dropped in Germany?
- 📝 What would a Norseman in the early 11th century have worn as daily clothing?
- 📝 What reasons did the Confederacy have for believing they would have a quick victory?
- 📝 What would the Arch of Titus have looked like painted?
- 📝 What would people have been smoking in 700 AD Central / Eastern Asia?
- 📝 Would the trial of Jesus of Nazareth have been recorded on an Acta Diurna?
- 📝 What plane would have been used to airdrop someone into occupied Europe?
- 📝 What murals and decor might have been present in the earliest Sumerian temples?
- 📝 Why would the heads of the Manhattan Project have been imprisoned in the event of its failure?
- 📝 When would the Japanese have been able to recognize their archipelago?
- 📝 Would an illegitimate child of a monarch have been recognized at the Russian court?
- 📝 What was the price of bread in France from 1789 - 1815?
- 📝 Who is the last known non-natural US citizen who would have been eligible for the Presidency?
- 📝 What would the Wikipedia page for Spain have said in 1490?
- 📝 What have been the major milestones in the creation of state literacy policies?
- 📝 What populations have been denied the ability to leave a territory, so that its goverment could kill them?
- 📝 What is the average price, in silver, for a loaf of bread through history?
- 📝 What have been the advantages/disadvantages of NOAA and the USPHS having uniformed services?
- 📝 What explanations have been given as to why the Jews were not killed in Italy?
- 📝 Would occupying Big Round Top have been a good idea for the Confederates?