he could earn three times as much money. The English penny is to-day a
very large copper coin, being worth two cents, but in those times it
weighed three times as much as to-day, as did all current coins. In
addition to this great weight, money was very scarce, and fully six or
seven times as valuable in many commodities as to-day. We will not err
far in calling the laborer's penny forty American cents. In 1350, then,
the skilled laborer earned 3 pence in a day. He paid of his dear money,
1 shilling 10-1/2 pence for a bushel of wheat, and £1 4 shillings 6
pence for an ox. This means that he paid eight days' (112 hours') labor
for his bushel of wheat, and 98 days' (1372 hours') labor for his ox.
The ox would to-day rate far below a "scalawag" at the Stock Yards of
Chicago or East St. Louis, weighing, perhaps, 400 pounds.