In Ch. 13, the characters spend quite a few moments exclaiming over this "large" sum. It's pretty much an old-style version of "Holy Smokes! 25 stinkin' pounds!" if you haven't read it (pg. 96)
While reading this scintillating (note the sarcasm) section, I couldn't help remember that when I was in London nearly three years ago, 25 pounds was enough for a high-class meal for one. The admission fee for Madame Tussaud's London Wax Museum was more than 25 pounds. Needless to say, this amount is very different in our world. Yet I went to London when the economy was at its lowest point, thus making everything in London more expensive for us.
My question is, how much do you think 25 pounds really is in this world (converting it to our own equivalent)? It's definitely worth more in this 1800s time period, but today 25 pounds does have some substantial weight.
This is a really cool question. It's an interesting idea to relate it to today's world. My guess is that it's somewhere around $1000 today. Because they are a lower class this type of money would mean a lot more to them then what we think of it, but it's still a decent amount.
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