£1 in 1785 is worth £1.39 in 1796

Value of £1 from 1785 to 1796

£1 in 1785 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £1.39 in 1796, an increase of £0.39 over 11 years. The pound had an average inflation rate of 3.03% per year between 1785 and 1796, producing a cumulative price increase of 38.89%.

This means that prices in 1796 are 1.39 times as high as average prices since 1785, according to the Office for National Statistics composite price index.

The inflation rate in 1785 was -5.26%. The inflation rate in 1796 was 6.38%. The 1796 inflation rate is higher compared to the average inflation rate of 2.20% per year between 1796 and 2024.


Inflation from 1785 to 1796
Cumulative price change38.89%
Average inflation rate3.03%
Converted amount
£1 base
£1.39
Price difference
£1 base
£0.39
CPI in 17857.200
CPI in 179610.000
Inflation in 1785-5.26%
Inflation in 17966.38%
£1 in 1785£1.39 in 1796

GBP inflation since 1785
Annual Rate, the Office for National Statistics CPI
Download

Buying power of £1 in 1785

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for £1 in 1785 (price index tracking began in 1750).

For example, if you started with £1, you would need to end with £1.39 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When £1 is equivalent to £1.39 over time, that means that the "real value" of a single U.K. pound decreases over time. In other words, a pound will pay for fewer items at the store.

This effect explains how inflation erodes the value of a pound over time. By calculating the value in 1785 dollars, the chart below shows how £1 is worth less over 11 years.

According to the Office for National Statistics, each of these GBP amounts below is equal in terms of what it could buy at the time:

Pound inflation: 1785-1796
YearPound ValueInflation Rate
1785£1.00-5.26%
1786£1.000.00%
1787£1.000.00%
1788£1.044.17%
1789£1.03-1.33%
1790£1.041.35%
1791£1.040.00%
1792£1.061.33%
1793£1.082.63%
1794£1.188.97%
1795£1.3110.59%
1796£1.396.38%
1797£1.25-10.00%
1798£1.22-2.22%
1799£1.3812.50%
1800£1.8836.36%
1801£2.1011.85%
1802£1.61-23.18%
1803£1.53-5.17%
1804£1.572.73%
1805£1.8215.93%
1806£1.75-3.82%
1807£1.71-2.38%
1808£1.784.07%
1809£1.949.37%
1810£2.002.86%
1811£1.94-2.78%
1812£2.2113.57%
1813£2.262.52%
1814£1.97-12.88%
1815£1.76-10.56%
1816£1.61-8.66%
1817£1.8313.79%
1818£1.830.00%
1819£1.79-2.27%
1820£1.62-9.30%
1821£1.43-11.97%
1822£1.24-13.59%
1823£1.326.74%
1824£1.438.42%
1825£1.6817.48%
1826£1.58-5.79%
1827£1.49-6.14%
1828£1.44-2.80%
1829£1.43-0.96%
1830£1.38-3.88%
1831£1.5110.10%
1832£1.40-7.34%
1833£1.32-5.94%
1834£1.21-8.42%
1835£1.242.30%
1836£1.3811.24%
1837£1.402.02%
1838£1.420.99%
1839£1.516.86%
1840£1.541.83%
1841£1.51-1.80%
1842£1.39-8.26%
1843£1.24-11.00%
1844£1.240.00%
1845£1.294.49%
1846£1.354.30%
1847£1.5112.37%
1848£1.32-12.84%
1849£1.24-6.32%
1850£1.17-5.62%
1851£1.13-3.57%
1852£1.130.00%
1853£1.249.88%
1854£1.4214.61%
1855£1.462.94%
1856£1.460.00%
1857£1.39-4.76%
1858£1.26-9.00%
1859£1.25-1.10%
1860£1.293.33%
1861£1.322.15%
1862£1.29-2.11%
1863£1.25-3.23%
1864£1.24-1.11%
1865£1.251.12%
1866£1.325.56%
1867£1.406.32%
1868£1.39-0.99%
1869£1.32-5.00%
1870£1.320.00%
1871£1.331.05%
1872£1.394.17%
1873£1.444.00%
1874£1.39-3.85%
1875£1.36-2.00%
1876£1.360.00%
1877£1.35-1.02%
1878£1.32-2.06%
1879£1.26-4.21%
1880£1.313.30%
1881£1.29-1.06%
1882£1.311.08%
1883£1.29-1.06%
1884£1.26-2.15%
1885£1.22-3.30%
1886£1.21-1.14%
1887£1.19-1.15%
1888£1.211.16%
1889£1.221.15%
1890£1.220.00%
1891£1.241.14%
1892£1.240.00%
1893£1.22-1.12%
1894£1.21-1.14%
1895£1.19-1.15%
1896£1.18-1.16%
1897£1.212.35%
1898£1.210.00%
1899£1.221.15%
1900£1.284.55%
1901£1.280.00%
1902£1.280.00%
1903£1.291.09%
1904£1.290.00%
1905£1.290.00%
1906£1.290.00%
1907£1.311.08%
1908£1.310.00%
1909£1.321.06%
1910£1.331.05%
1911£1.330.00%
1912£1.383.13%
1913£1.36-1.01%
1914£1.360.00%
1915£1.5312.24%
1916£1.8118.18%
1917£2.2625.38%
1918£2.7622.09%
1919£3.0410.05%
1920£3.5115.53%
1921£3.21-8.70%
1922£2.76-13.85%
1923£2.60-6.03%
1924£2.58-0.53%
1925£2.580.00%
1926£2.57-0.54%
1927£2.50-2.70%
1928£2.500.00%
1929£2.47-1.11%
1930£2.40-2.81%
1931£2.31-4.05%
1932£2.25-2.41%
1933£2.19-2.47%
1934£2.190.00%
1935£2.210.63%
1936£2.220.63%
1937£2.313.75%
1938£2.331.20%
1939£2.402.98%
1940£2.8116.76%
1941£3.1110.89%
1942£3.337.14%
1943£3.443.33%
1944£3.542.82%
1945£3.642.75%
1946£3.753.05%
1947£4.017.04%
1948£4.327.61%
1949£4.442.89%
1950£4.583.13%
1951£5.009.09%
1952£5.469.17%
1953£5.633.05%
1954£5.741.98%
1955£5.994.36%
1956£6.295.10%
1957£6.513.53%
1958£6.723.20%
1959£6.750.41%
1960£6.821.03%
1961£7.063.46%
1962£7.364.33%
1963£7.501.89%
1964£7.753.33%
1965£8.114.66%
1966£8.433.94%
1967£8.652.64%
1968£9.064.65%
1969£9.545.37%
1970£10.156.40%
1971£11.119.44%
1972£11.907.13%
1973£12.999.10%
1974£15.0716.04%
1975£18.7224.24%
1976£21.8216.54%
1977£25.2815.85%
1978£27.388.30%
1979£31.0413.39%
1980£36.6317.99%
1981£40.9711.87%
1982£44.508.61%
1983£46.544.59%
1984£48.864.98%
1985£51.836.08%
1986£53.603.40%
1987£55.834.17%
1988£58.574.90%
1989£63.137.78%
1990£69.109.46%
1991£73.155.87%
1992£75.893.74%
1993£77.101.59%
1994£78.962.41%
1995£81.693.47%
1996£83.672.41%
1997£86.293.14%
1998£89.253.43%
1999£90.631.54%
2000£93.312.96%
2001£94.961.77%
2002£96.541.67%
2003£99.332.89%
2004£102.292.98%
2005£105.182.82%
2006£108.543.20%
2007£113.194.29%
2008£117.713.99%
2009£117.08-0.53%
2010£122.494.61%
2011£128.865.20%
2012£133.003.21%
2013£137.043.04%
2014£140.282.36%
2015£141.670.99%
2016£144.131.74%
2017£149.293.58%
2018£153.322.70%
2019£157.162.50%
2020£159.981.80%
2021£163.972.49%
2022£176.927.90%
2023£189.447.07%
2024£196.823.90%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.
Click to show 5 more rows

This conversion table shows various other 1785 amounts in 1796 pounds, based on the 38.89% change in prices:

Conversion: 1785 pounds in 1796
Initial valueEquivalent value
£1 pound in 1785£1.39 pounds in 1796
£5 pounds in 1785£6.94 pounds in 1796
£10 pounds in 1785£13.89 pounds in 1796
£50 pounds in 1785£69.44 pounds in 1796
£100 pounds in 1785£138.89 pounds in 1796
£500 pounds in 1785£694.44 pounds in 1796
£1,000 pounds in 1785£1,388.89 pounds in 1796
£5,000 pounds in 1785£6,944.44 pounds in 1796
£10,000 pounds in 1785£13,888.89 pounds in 1796
£50,000 pounds in 1785£69,444.44 pounds in 1796
£100,000 pounds in 1785£138,888.89 pounds in 1796
£500,000 pounds in 1785£694,444.44 pounds in 1796
£1,000,000 pounds in 1785£1,388,888.89 pounds in 1796

How to calculate inflation rate for £1, 1785 to 1796

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1785 and 1796:

CPI in 1796 CPI in 1785
×
1785 GBP value
=
1796 GBP value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.K. CPI was 7.2 in the year 1785 and 10 in 1796:

107.2
×
£1
=
£1.39

£1 in 1785 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as £1.39 in 1796.

To get the total inflation rate for the 11 years between 1785 and 1796, we use the following formula:

CPI in 1796 - CPI in 1785CPI in 1785
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (11 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

10 - 7.27.2
×
100
=
39%

Data source & citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from the composite price index published by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). A composite index is created by combining price data from several different published sources, both official and unofficial. The Consumer Price Index, normally used to compute inflation, has only been tracked since 1988. All inflation calculations after 1988 use the Office for National Statistics' Consumer Price Index, except for the current year, which is based on The Bank of England's forecast.

You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “£1 in 1785 → 1796 | UK Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 28 Mar. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/1785-GBP-in-1796?amount=1.

Special thanks to QuickChart for their chart image API, which is used for chart downloads.

in2013dollars.com is a reference website maintained by the Official Data Foundation.


Ian Webster

About the author

Ian Webster is an engineer and data expert based in San Mateo, California. He has worked for Google, NASA, and consulted for governments around the world on data pipelines and data analysis. Disappointed by the lack of clear resources on the impacts of inflation on economic indicators, Ian believes this website serves as a valuable public tool. Ian earned his degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.

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» Read more about inflation and investment.

Inflation from 1785 to 1796
Cumulative price change38.89%
Average inflation rate3.03%
Converted amount
£1 base
£1.39
Price difference
£1 base
£0.39
CPI in 17857.200
CPI in 179610.000
Inflation in 1785-5.26%
Inflation in 17966.38%
£1 in 1785£1.39 in 1796