I recently turned up a most interesting 1834 letter from the firm of Steel & Hocknell of Rochester to the firm of Wheeler & Brooks of Livonia NY. A transcription can be found here:
price list
The previously unidentified S & H mark can be seen in Darling's entry for Wheeler & Brooks; Steel & Hocknell is not listed.
This is the earliest wholesale list of its type I have seen or found reference to; if anyone knows of another, I would appreciate hearing of it.
.
The cost of goods
Hi Wev,
Although not wholesale, this is a receipt dated 10th April 1832 from Peter Nordbeck the Halifax, Nova Scotia silversmith and signed by him, and would make an interesting comparison if only I knew the $ to £ conversion of the period, bearing in mind the closeness of the dates of this receipt and your wholesale price list.
The costings are as follows:-
1 Pair Silver Gravy Ladles.......£2-5-00
1/2 Dozen Silver Teaspoons....£1-15-00
1 Dozen Silver Teaspoons.......£4-00-00
Plated Silver and Glass Cruet....£2-5-00
Sub-Total.......................................£10-5-00
Discount 5%.......................................10-03
Sub-Total.......................................£9-14-9
Engraving.............................................5-00
Total..............................................£9-19-9.
I appreciate it would be impossible to make anything in the way of an accurate comparison, with so many factors involved, size, weight, quality etc. but it would be interesting if anyone knows the conversion rates at the time, so that the wholesale prices from a mass production supplier and the hand made pieces from a silversmith of Nordbeck's standing compare.
Trev.
.
Although not wholesale, this is a receipt dated 10th April 1832 from Peter Nordbeck the Halifax, Nova Scotia silversmith and signed by him, and would make an interesting comparison if only I knew the $ to £ conversion of the period, bearing in mind the closeness of the dates of this receipt and your wholesale price list.
The costings are as follows:-
1 Pair Silver Gravy Ladles.......£2-5-00
1/2 Dozen Silver Teaspoons....£1-15-00
1 Dozen Silver Teaspoons.......£4-00-00
Plated Silver and Glass Cruet....£2-5-00
Sub-Total.......................................£10-5-00
Discount 5%.......................................10-03
Sub-Total.......................................£9-14-9
Engraving.............................................5-00
Total..............................................£9-19-9.
I appreciate it would be impossible to make anything in the way of an accurate comparison, with so many factors involved, size, weight, quality etc. but it would be interesting if anyone knows the conversion rates at the time, so that the wholesale prices from a mass production supplier and the hand made pieces from a silversmith of Nordbeck's standing compare.
Trev.
.
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byron mac donald
- Posts: 410
- Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:45 am
- Location: Central Ca. USA
Hello Dognose-
The exchange rate for 1832 was $4.86 USD to 1 British pound. See here:
http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/ ... result.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Regards- Byron
.
The exchange rate for 1832 was $4.86 USD to 1 British pound. See here:
http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/ ... result.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Regards- Byron
.
The last does not include the price of the silver which would add nearly $10.00 to the cost.
I also have a letter (12 November 1840) from Thomas Charles Fletcher to his brother Henry which includes some prices:
1 doz. Table Spoons Thread & shell -- wt. 38.10 -- mak'g 12.00
1 doz. Table Spoons Thread only -- wt. 39.5 -- mak'g 12.00
2 doz. Dessert Spoons Thread only -- wt. 56.15 -- mak'g 20.00
1 doz. Tea Spoons Thread & shell -- wt. 13.13 -- mak'g 5.00
oz. silver 148.3 @ $ 1.25 185.19
total $ 234.19
.
I also have a letter (12 November 1840) from Thomas Charles Fletcher to his brother Henry which includes some prices:
1 doz. Table Spoons Thread & shell -- wt. 38.10 -- mak'g 12.00
1 doz. Table Spoons Thread only -- wt. 39.5 -- mak'g 12.00
2 doz. Dessert Spoons Thread only -- wt. 56.15 -- mak'g 20.00
1 doz. Tea Spoons Thread & shell -- wt. 13.13 -- mak'g 5.00
oz. silver 148.3 @ $ 1.25 185.19
total $ 234.19
.
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kerangoumar
- contributor
- Posts: 394
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:37 pm
- Location: Canada
The history of currency in Canada is a bit more complicated. And it is relevant here because you are dealing with a Halifax smith.
Canada was composed of Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec, essentially) and the Maritimes. The maritime provinces were a centre for much trading activity due to their important seaports. And the international currency was not the US dollar but the Spanish dollar.
"One Spanish (or colonial Spanish) silver dollar weighing 420 grains (385 grains of pure silver23) [was defined as being worth] 5 shillings, local currency. This valuation of the Spanish dollar was to be used in settling debts. In effect, the Spanish dollar became legal
tender in Nova Scotia."
The Halifax rating, as it was known, remained in common use well after the British authorities overturned it as the standard. That rating was also adopted by Quebec (Lower Canada)
Moreover, "a Spanish silver dollar, 'the principal measure of exchange and the basis of pecuniary contracts' in North America, was appraised at 4 shillings and 6 pence in London, 5 shillings in Halifax".
Bank notes were first used in 1817. Accepted by the public, they were denominated in both Pounds and Dollars and were used for trading in the Canada and the US - though often at a discount
. "During much of the nineteenth century, a bank’s notes had to be accepted at par only at the issuing office. Elsewhere, the notes were discounted, even by branches of the issuing bank."
However, constant converting and multiplying was a drag on commerce (even locally; see below) and the US dollar was accepted as the international standard; as a matter of fact workers on the Rideau Canal were paid in US dollars. But that was Upper Canada.
All bank notes of the maritime provinces were denominated in Pounds because of their strong ties to Britain and relatively weak commercial links to the US.
The British then tried to persuade the Maritimes to adopt the Pound as its official currencym hoping that it would spread from there to the rest of the country. But Nova Scotia was not really willing to make the first move and the Pound did not get more than a toehold in Canada after all. And the Brits were stymied in their efforts to develop an Empire-wide currency.
All quoted information is from http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/dollar_book/pre-1841.pdf
There is an amusing (if vexing) anecdote in the article.
"Money madness
The diversity of notes and coins in circulation
was frustrating, making simple transactions complex.
In a letter to the Acadian Recorder in 1820,
an irate citizen in Halifax complained that
when he bought vegetables costing six pence
in the market using a £1 Nova Scotian
Treasury note, his change amounted to
93 separate items, including 8 paper notes from
four different merchants or groups (ranging
in value from 5 shillings to 7 1/2 pence), one
silver piece, and 84 copper coins. The letter
ended “For God’s sake, gentlemen, let us get
back our DOLLARS” (Acadian Recorder,
21 October 1820, Martell 1941, 15)."
(If you think that was bad, in BC gold dust was also accepted as currency)
.
Canada was composed of Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec, essentially) and the Maritimes. The maritime provinces were a centre for much trading activity due to their important seaports. And the international currency was not the US dollar but the Spanish dollar.
"One Spanish (or colonial Spanish) silver dollar weighing 420 grains (385 grains of pure silver23) [was defined as being worth] 5 shillings, local currency. This valuation of the Spanish dollar was to be used in settling debts. In effect, the Spanish dollar became legal
tender in Nova Scotia."
The Halifax rating, as it was known, remained in common use well after the British authorities overturned it as the standard. That rating was also adopted by Quebec (Lower Canada)
Moreover, "a Spanish silver dollar, 'the principal measure of exchange and the basis of pecuniary contracts' in North America, was appraised at 4 shillings and 6 pence in London, 5 shillings in Halifax".
Bank notes were first used in 1817. Accepted by the public, they were denominated in both Pounds and Dollars and were used for trading in the Canada and the US - though often at a discount
. "During much of the nineteenth century, a bank’s notes had to be accepted at par only at the issuing office. Elsewhere, the notes were discounted, even by branches of the issuing bank."
However, constant converting and multiplying was a drag on commerce (even locally; see below) and the US dollar was accepted as the international standard; as a matter of fact workers on the Rideau Canal were paid in US dollars. But that was Upper Canada.
All bank notes of the maritime provinces were denominated in Pounds because of their strong ties to Britain and relatively weak commercial links to the US.
The British then tried to persuade the Maritimes to adopt the Pound as its official currencym hoping that it would spread from there to the rest of the country. But Nova Scotia was not really willing to make the first move and the Pound did not get more than a toehold in Canada after all. And the Brits were stymied in their efforts to develop an Empire-wide currency.
All quoted information is from http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/dollar_book/pre-1841.pdf
There is an amusing (if vexing) anecdote in the article.
"Money madness
The diversity of notes and coins in circulation
was frustrating, making simple transactions complex.
In a letter to the Acadian Recorder in 1820,
an irate citizen in Halifax complained that
when he bought vegetables costing six pence
in the market using a £1 Nova Scotian
Treasury note, his change amounted to
93 separate items, including 8 paper notes from
four different merchants or groups (ranging
in value from 5 shillings to 7 1/2 pence), one
silver piece, and 84 copper coins. The letter
ended “For God’s sake, gentlemen, let us get
back our DOLLARS” (Acadian Recorder,
21 October 1820, Martell 1941, 15)."
(If you think that was bad, in BC gold dust was also accepted as currency)
.
This is an invoice from a wholesaler and exporter; Hugh Beavan of 34 Marylebone Street, Golden Square, London. Dated 1819/1820, two of the items supplied to Sir Robert Kennedy were as follows:-
18 Solid Teaspoons............£7-1-00
16 Dessert Spoons Solid.... £10-11-00
The conversion rate GBP to USD in 1819 was $4.51 (Thanks Byron).
This huge bill for plate (£104-10-00....$471) was to be adjusted in the usual way, by part exchanging a quantity of scrap at what appears to be 5s-9d per ounce allowed.
Trev.
18 Solid Teaspoons............£7-1-00
16 Dessert Spoons Solid.... £10-11-00
The conversion rate GBP to USD in 1819 was $4.51 (Thanks Byron).
This huge bill for plate (£104-10-00....$471) was to be adjusted in the usual way, by part exchanging a quantity of scrap at what appears to be 5s-9d per ounce allowed.
Trev.