A Dollar’s Purchasing Power

How much would a dollar in 1776 buy today? 

When American colonists were fighting for independence from Great Britain 250 years ago, a dollar was serious money: a common laborer in America might earn less than half that for a full day’s work. One dollar could cover a tavern dinner with cider and a night’s lodging, or several pounds of butter. But a “dollar” usually meant a Spanish silver dollar—America had no mint of its own yet, and its paper money was collapsing in value. A single dollar had the buying power of roughly $38 today (an amount that, interestingly, could still secure several pounds of butter but not dinner and a hotel room). 

What about other time periods? How did the U.S. dollar’s power shift during the eventful century between the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement? Find out on money.org! The ANA has created an interactive sliding scale illustrating how a dollar’s worth has fluctuated from 1776 through today. Drag through 250 years of American history and watch the dollar’s purchasing power rise, fall, and rise again.

Note that comparing money across centuries is more art than arithmetic. Any single “today’s dollars” figure hides enormous variation. Prices for specific goods differed sharply by region, and much of early American life ran on barter, credit, and book accounts rather than cash, especially in rural areas. Manufactured goods were also far more expensive relative to everyday staples than they are now. These numbers give us a feel for orders of magnitude rather than precise equivalents. They serve as an invitation to ask the harder questions about how Americans actually lived, earned, and paid.

For more information about the evolution of American money, visit the Money Museum’s virtual exhibit (R)evolution in Currency, which highlights one American coin, token, or note for each year of our national independence.