A Joycean Price Guide
The following is intended to provide some standard of comparison for the various prices and other sums of money mentioned in Joyce’s works. Where a price is not stated by Joyce, it has been supplied from the 1907 catalogue of the Army & Navy Stores (ANS). Dublin prices may have been cheaper.
In British pre-decimal currency:
1 guinea = £1 1s
£1 (one pound) = 20 shillings or 240 pennies
1s (one shilling) = 12 pence (pennies)
1d (one penny) = 2 halfpennies or 4 farthings
Coins in use were the gold sovereign (£1 or a 'quid') and half-sovereign (10s); the crown (5s); the half-crown (2s 6d); the florin (2s); the shilling or 'bob' (1s); the sixpence or 'tanner' (6d); the threepenny bit (3d); the penny (1d); halfpenny (½d), and the farthing (¼d).
The guinea no longer existed as a coin, but was still used as a pricing unit in upmarket shops, in reckoning professional fees, and in prizes for horse races.
Specifically Irish terms are 'bar' (shilling), 'wing' (penny) and 'make' (halfpenny).
1d
|
eight plums
five Woodbine cigarettes
two apples
two Banbury cakes
two herrings
one pint of porter
donation to a onelegged sailor
Freeman’s Journal
tramfare
secondhand French primer
|
U 6.294
SH 137
U 8.69
U 8.74-5
U 16.273-4
D: Counterparts
U 18.346
U 17.1439
U 10.116-17, U 17.1461, W 80.34
U 10.863
|
1½d
|
plate of peas
|
D: Two Gallants |
2d
|
pint of milk
pint of beer
admission to waxworks (children 1d)
shave for Simon Dedalus
secondhand books (four for 6d)
notepaper and two envelopes
tip to a bothered waiter
cigar at Barney Kiernan’s
cup of coffee at the cabmen’s shelter
bun at the cabmen’s shelter
to operate the pianola at Bella Cohen’s
|
U 1.442
U 1.724, U 5.308
U 17.579-80
U 10.699
U 10.837
U 10.306, U 17.466
U 11.1003
U 12.682
U 16.1700
U 16.1700
U 15.4016
|
3d
|
pork kidney from Dlugacz
tip to porter at Newhaven
raffle ticket for a turkey
sheep’s trotter
one pound of Herzog’s sugar
admission to Nelson Pillar
|
U 4.180, U 17.1458
U 3.195
U 5.546
U 17.1471
U 12.39-40
U 7.942-3 |
4d
|
cake of lemon soap
Dante’s methylated spirits (1 pint?)
pig’s trotter
square of soda bread
admission to circus (child)
|
U 5.511
U 18.6-7 (ANS: 8½d a quart)
U 17.1470
U 17.1473
SH 243
|
5d
|
('fippence') the leg of the duck
|
FW 142.1-2 |
6d
|
lunch at Rowe’s
tanner lunch (mutton, carrots & turnips, Alsop)
night at Mrs Maloney’s doss-house
game of billiards at Adelphi Hotel
given to organ-grinder to go away
value of a yearling sheep
|
U 8.367-8
U 8.926-7
U 16.167
SH 207
D: Eveline
FW 69.17-18
|
6½d
|
('Tanner and a Make') among HCE’s nicknames
|
FW 70.28 |
7d
|
lunch at Davy Byrne’s
|
U 8.776, 17.1764 |
7½d
|
one pound of Lipton’s fairy cakes
|
U 18.1554-5 |
8d
|
lunch at the Burton
value of a yearling goat
|
U 8.368-9
FW 69.18-19 |
9d
|
fine for scribicide (or £4)
|
FW 14.22 |
11d
|
two pounds of cherry cakes
|
U 18.1155 |
1s
|
Bridie Kelly’s charges (plus luckpenny)
admission to Araby Bazaar
bottle of jalap
night at the Brazen Head
a dozen workingstacks
admission to museomound: 'Welsh and the Paddy Patkinses
(others free)
('ardree’s shilling') paid to army recruits
('a scrab') admission to Feenichts Playhouse
('a saxum sillum') tip to sexton
|
U 14.1065-6
D: Araby
U 1.156 (ANS)
U 16.168-70
FW 6.1
FW 8.5-6
-
FW 49.4
FW 219.3-4
FW 281.L17-21
|
1s 1d
|
Tricoloured boater
|
FW 54.31-2 |
1s 2d
|
pound tin of Epps’ cocoa (also in 4 & 8 ox packets)
|
U 17.356-7 (ANS) |
1s 4d
|
brawn, quantity unspecified
|
U 7.939 |
1s 6d
|
bath and gratification
|
U 17.1460
|
1s 9d
|
twelve rolls of Dockrell’s wallpaper
dinner at the Ormond Hotel (best value in Dub)
|
U 8.171, 15.914-5
U 11.1002
|
1s 11d
|
box of Iron Jelloids (also at 2s 8d)
|
U 13.84 (ANS) |
2s
|
Stephen’s debt to Fred Ryan
reward for rescuing Reuben J. Dodd Jr
repairing broken statuette
tip to Meath Street prostitute
ticket to Eire Abu Society concert
one pound of Anne Lynch’s tea
secondhand astronomy book
('two bar') admission to boxing match (soldiers 1s)
|
U 2.256, 9.1084
U 6.286-7
U 18.1016
U 13.871
D: A Mother
U 17.308 (1s 11d: FW 325.4-5)
U 10.526
U 10.1136
|
2s 1d
|
Seven fingers of shopsoiled ribbon at Clery’s sale
('two bar and a wing') round of drinks at Burke’s
|
U 13.160-1
U 14.1502-3
|
2s 2d
|
box of Widow Welch’s pills
|
U 13.85-6 (ANS)
|
2s 4d
|
slice of plumcake
|
D: Clay
|
2s 6d
|
Bank Holiday return rail fare Dublin-Mullingar
one dozen oysters
postal order for Martha Clifford
Terry’s bet on Zinfandel
Love Songs of Connacht
Demidoff’s jewel
|
U 4.452-3
U 18.63
U 11.867
U 12.1224
U 9.93-95 (English Cat. Books)
FW 329.29
|
2s 7d
|
one yard of black satin for blouse (or 2s 9d)
|
U 11.111 |
2s 9d
|
Molly’s lotion
tam o’shanter, knitted
|
U 5.507
U 4.399 (ANS)
|
3s
|
Hynes’s debt to Bloom
a sandwichman’s daily wage
pair grey flannelette bloomers (astonishing bargain)
one pound of Herzog’s tea
the Morkans’ tea (one pound?)
one pint of pulexes
priest’s fee for saying a mass
|
U 7.119, 8.1057
U 8.128-9
U 13.1235-6
U 12.38
D: The Dead
FW 438.21
FW 465.24, 520.12-16
|
3s 6d
|
boy’s man-o’war cap
|
U 13.14-15 (ANS)
|
3s 9d
|
Marge’s 'ethel' dress (reduced)
|
FW 166.6-8
|
4s 7d
|
Loan offered by HCE to his assailant
|
FW 83.1-2
|
4s 10d
|
bottle of Allan’s Anti-Fat
|
U 18.455-6 (ANS)
|
4s 11d
|
one pair of green knickers
|
U 13.725-6
|
5s
|
cost per head of proposed picnic
ticket for preserved seat at concert
price realised at auction by pair of curtains
Bloom’s donation to Dignam fund
|
U 18.946
U 18.1289
U 10.648
U 10.974-6, 11.805, 17.1462
|
5s 6d
|
return rail fare Dublin-Mullingar
|
U 16.509
|
6s
|
secondhand melodeon at Marks
raised by Farrington’s watch at pawnshop
|
U 11.1263-4
D: Counterparts |
7s
|
Eveline’s weekly wage as shop assistant
Molly’s win at Leopardstown races
weekly rent of Denis Breen’s father’s house
|
D: Eveline
U 15.546
U 12.1069
|
7s 6d
7s 9d
|
sailor suit, age 3-4
|
U 13.14 (ANS, cheapest style)
|
8s 6d
|
Dressing jacket (or 18s 6d)
Harris tweed cap
|
U 18.1497
U 17.1582
|
10s
|
Stephen’s debt to Cousins
Bloom’s annual payment to cemetery gardener
a short time at Bella Cohen’s brothel
raised by Temple’s watch at pawnshop
Stephen’s pocket money for first term at school
Bags Comisky’s fine for drunk and disorderly
twelve rolls embossed wallpaper
|
U 2.257
U 6.934
U 15.1985-6, 15.3453
SH 223
P 5
U 16.209-10
U 17.1535
|
10s 6d
|
Stephen’s debt to Bob Reynolds
Kernan’s secondhand coat
brass fender from Hampton Leedom’s
|
U 2.258
U 10.744
U 15.3188-91 |
10s 11d
|
Annie Chandler’s blouse (expensive)
|
D: A Little Cloud
|
11s
|
One pair of trousers from Kino’s
weekly board at the Rum and Puncheon
|
U 8.90-2, 17.586
FW 70.1-2 |
11s 6d
|
kidfitting corset
|
U 18.448
|
12s 6d
|
Milly’s weekly wage as photographer’s assistant
|
U 4.425 |
15s
|
weekly board at Mrs Mooney’s
Gabriel’s weekly fee for book reviews (paltry)
Sandow-Whiteley’s pulley exerciser (athlete’s model £1)
|
D: A Boarding House
D: The Dead
U 17.1817
|
18s
|
Ormond barmaids’ weekly wage
|
U 11.1076-7
|
19s 11d
|
Josie Breen’s hat
|
U 15.550-1
|
£1
|
fraudulent price of passage to Canada
Menton’s contribution to Dignam fund
|
U 12.1088
U 6.569
|
£1 1s
|
Stephen’s debt to McCann and to Russell
Dr Collins’s fee for consultation
one ton of best Abram coal
|
U 2.25, 2.257
U 18.1109
U 17.128-9
|
£1 5s 6d
|
Geraghty’s debt to Herzog
|
U 12.41
|
£1 6s 6d
|
one pair of shepherd’s plaid trousers
|
FW 396.17-18
|
£1 7s
|
Price of 'springers' sold by Joe Cuffe
|
U 6.392-3
|
£1 7s 6d
|
Bloom’s commission from Freeman’s Journal
|
U 17.1459
|
£1 10s 9d
£2
|
dummy piano, 2 octaves (£2 10s 3 octaves)
|
U 11.842-3 (ANS)
|
£2 2s
|
Shem’s dress suit (brandnew)
|
FW 182.25-6
|
£3 3s
|
Stephen’s debt to Koehler
|
U 2.258
|
£3 12s
|
Stephen’s monthly salary as teacher
|
U 2.222, 16.177
|
£3 13s 6d
|
Philip Beaufoy’s fee for story
suggested price of corpse in Bloom’s fantasy
|
U 4.505
U 6.773-5
|
£4
|
(‘six marks’) fine for scribicide (or 9d)
|
FW 14.22
|
£5
|
prize in Answers competition
Bloom’s proposed State gift to newborn child
|
U 11.1024
U 8.383-4
|
£5 5s
|
Rumbold’s fee for execution
|
U 12.428-9
|
£6
|
Mary Driscoll’s annual salary as housemaid
|
U 15.868
|
£6 6s
|
Fieldglasses with Goerz lenses
|
U 8.554
|
£8 8s
|
Kathleen Kearney’s promised fee as accompanist
|
D: A Mother
|
£9
|
Stephen’s debt to Mulligan
|
U 2.255
|
£10 10s
|
Stephen’s debt to Curran
|
U 2.256
|
£12
|
annual rent for Sandycove Martello Tower
|
U 17.1862-3
|
£18 14s 6d
|
Bloom’s bank balance at end of 1903
|
U 17.1862-3
|
£21
|
mantle in Barnardo’s
|
P 103
|
£28
|
valuation of 80 Eccles Street
|
U 4.236
|
£33
|
Stephen’s school prize
|
P 102
|
£42
|
valuation of Bloom’s ideal home
|
U 17.1501
|
£50
|
Glynn’s annual salary as organist
Prize purse in Keogh/Bennett boxing match
|
U 5.396-7
U 10.1134-5, 12.960-1
|
£68 5s
|
lute from Arnold Dolmetsch
|
U 16.1766
|
£100
|
Boylan’s win on Keogh/Bennett boxing match
|
U 12.942
|
£300
|
Bloom’s proposed annual income for all
|
U 16.1133-5
|
£500
|
damages for shock
|
U 15.647
|
£900
|
value of Bloom’s Canadian stock
|
U 17.1864-5
|
£1,000
|
value of Ascot Gold Cup
|
U 16.1277
|
£1,200
|
price of Bloom’s ideal home
|
U 17.1661
|
£3,000
|
Money prize added to Ascot Gold Cup
|
U 16.1277
|
£10,000
|
Ben Dollard’s business losses
damages sought by Denis Breen for postcard
|
U 11.1014
U 8.262-3, 12.261
|
£1,000,000
|
Supposed government prize for squaring the circle
|
U 15.2401, 17.1696-7
|
John Smurthwaite
|
|
