It ’s safe to say the American settler were passably upset about the taxes and tariffs imposed on spell goods in the 1760s and 1770s — overturned enough to start a war . But at rates like ten shillings or a twain of pounds , the tariffs hardly sound oppressive to innovative ears . That is , until you do the mathematics to modernize the prices . Here is just how much 11 everyday item would cost if they were tax today at the same levels they were in compound America .
1. An Issue ofmental_flossMagazine; $293.56 in taxes
2. A Diploma; $234.84 in taxes
Nearly $ 300 for a clip seems like a bargain deal colonists had to pay the combining weight of $ 234.84 for a individual flat solid of sheepskin paper under the Stamp Act . Any piece of paper , skin , part of vellum , or parchment used for a security of arcdegree taken at a university or academy incurred a stamp duty of two pound ( valued £ 149.58 , or $ 234.84 today ) .
3. A Pair of Dice; $58.72 in taxes
Under the Stamp Act , a duty of ten shilling was tot to every pair of dice sold . In today ’s economy , that would leave you paying over $ 58 for a twosome of die . Even more torturing , the penalty for being caught selling an illegal duad of dice ( and therein bypassing the duty ) would cost you ten pound per dice — or 20 for the pair . This penalty is equivalent to over $ 2300 today .
4. A Deck of Cards; $5.87 in taxes
Each deck of play cards sold in the colonies was charged an extra Kenyan shilling ( or $ 5.87 today ) under the Stamp Act . While that might not seem like much compared to the extortionate duties on dice and paper , thing are put into perspective when you take that you may purchase a pack of cards of cards today for well under $ 5.00 — that makes the duty in surfeit of 100 percent of the cards ’ value . Also , much like die , the penalty for sell counterfeit cards was 20 pounds ( chiliad of dollars ) .
5. A Calendar; $1.96 in taxes
A postage stamp duty of four pence ( or $ 1.96 — which now seems like a buy ! ) was add to one - class calendars and farmer’s calendar publish in the colonies .
6. A Pound of Tea; $1.46
Under the Townshend Acts , a duty of three pence ( approximately $ 1.46 today ) was add to every pound of tea sold in the settlement . A common misconception is that the colonist protest the tax on teatime because it was too high , when if fact , the Boston Tea Party was in reply to bum , rather than expensive , tea . In rules of order to bail out the die East India Company , England granted the company a monopoly on the sale of Camellia sinensis in the colonies and go down a low-toned tax on tea to undersell Camellia sinensis smuggling to the colonies . The settler were angered by Britain ’s seek to restrict their trade as well as impose taxes ( of any sort ) against their will .
7. Foreign Coffee; $350.80 in taxes
The Sugar Act of 1764 imposed a duty of 2 pounds , 19 shillings , and 9 centime on every hundredweight of foreign coffee sold in the colonies . This is even more egregious when you consider that the duty on British umber was a bare 7 Somalian shilling ( $ 41.10 ) per hundredweight . Foreign coffee was more than eight time more expensive than British umber , intimately secure the British a monopoly on compound coffee sales .
8. Foreign White Sugar; $129.16 in taxes
A hundredweight of foreign blank sugar find an outrageous duty of 1 Sudanese pound , 2 shillings — or nearly $ 130 — under the Sugar Act .
9. Wine from Spain or Portugal; $58.72 in taxes
A ton of wine-colored import from Spain or Portugal was subject to a duty of 10 shillings ( some $ 58.72 today ) . Not so bad , right ? The crazy matter about this duty is just how bonkers it makes the obligation on wine imported from other places seem . Take , for representative …
10. Wine from Madeira; $821.94 in taxes
According to the Sugar Act , on “ every ton of wine of the growing of the Madeiras , or of any other island or place from whence such wine-colored may be licitly imported ” was target a tariff of seven pound sterling . That ’s 14 clock time more than wine from continental Europe !
11. License to Sell Wine; $469.68 in taxes
Under the Stamp Act , the paper on which you printed your license to sell wine — but , importantly , notwine and spirits — was stick with a postage stamp obligation of 4 pounds ( or $ 469.68 dollars today ) . Much like the duty on wine itself , the absurdity of this responsibility comes into focus when you compare it with other variety of liquor license . The newspaper on which you print your permission to betray spirit — but not wine-colored — had a duty of only one pound ( $ 117.42 ) . And the newspaper on which you impress your license to deal both wine and spirits had a duty of 4 pounds — the same as the responsibility on your license to deal wine-colored alone . These tariff seem to designate that the Crown wanted to drive the sales event of liquor ( which was more often English - made ) over wine ( which was more often strange - made ) .
