[Ushio Kawana]

Hi all ^^

We know the full plate armour was very expensive(to produce).
Many books are only written as "very expensive".
I do not understand concrete value.

So I have a very simple question...

How much is the full plate armour(16th century) in the present value?

For example... "(It is an extreme example...) In the present value, a FULL PLATE ARMOUR(16th century) and the F16 FIGHTER JET are the same value..."

How much is the value at the time(16th century)?

Of course the value is different by the quality of the plate armour.
I want to know the value of the plate armour(16th century) of the highest quality(It is displayed in the museum...).

thanks ^^

[Ralph Grinly]

As much of the surviving armours we see today were manufactured for kings, and high nobles, the actual 'price" was not a real concern . It's virtually impossible to convert the costs back then to todays monetary values. It's even very difficult to compare the cost of items from the early 20th C into meaningful comparisons to today. When you go back several hundred years earlier, the exercise becomes even more difficult. Also..you don't say WHAT pricing structure you mean ? In US dollars?, Japanese Yen? , Euro's ?

I guess you could *imagine* a custom harness as *very roughly* equivalent to the top of the line, custom sports car from one of the most expensive manufacturers ?

[Dan Howard]

The question can't be answered. It is like asking how much was an automobile in the 20th century. You'd have to narrow it down to a specific type of armour, a specific decade, and a specific place.

[Theo Squires]

A documentary about the Tudor Greenwich Armoury (BBC Metalworks: The Knight's Tale) said that the armours produced there would be either the second most expensive thing a nobleman would purchase in his lifetime, after his estate, or the most expensive thing if they already had an estate. That was late 1500s and early 1600s and the Greenwich Armoury, established by Henry VIII, was the finest armoury in England and (possibly) the most prestigious in Europe.

In my mind that puts the value of a Greenwich harness at several hundreds of thousands of pounds/dollars (today's money) or even more. However, purchasing power is different today than in the 1590s so it's a bit difficult to say exactly.

[Dan Howard]

Agreed. For most people today the second most expensive thing they ever purchase is a new car - the first being their house. New cars vary in price from around fifteen thousand to hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. Munitions plate would be the equivalent of a mass produced sedan while Henry VIII's armour would be the equivalent of a custom-built sports car. In today's money Henry's armour would probably have a similar cost as these sports cars - several hundred thousand dollars or more.

[Mark Griffin]

[Boris R.]

From 35 to 150 Guldens