Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
Even wowier: 3.1 million pounds is exactly (well almost) what it says, i.e. 3,100,000 pounds of silver. More exactly 3,100,000 TROY pounds of silver.
A fully loaded spitfire came in at 5844 pounds or 2651kg
3,100,000 Troy pounds is 2,550,000 Avoirdupois pounds. Thus our buyer could have taken his silver and made 436 Mk. I Spitfires out of pure silver.
Now pricewise, 2015 silver prices are down to $16.76 a Troy oz or $201 a Troy pound
At 5844 pounds that's 7102 Troy pounds per Spitfire or $1,427,502 per pure silver spitfire
An English POUND STERLING is called thus because in Ye Olde Days of Yore in the Saxon kingdoms when 240 Sterlings were struck from a lump of silver those 240 Sterlings weighed a pound. Thus a pound of sterlings
Thus one English Pound (£1) or Quid(money) was 20 shillings and each shilling 12 pence and each pence 4 farthings or as above 240 pence made £1.
The Crown (156g) was 5 shillings, the Sovereign, a gold coin (7.322g of gold) was worth £1, the Guinea another gold coin which no longer circulates is 21 shillings.
Now let's work on your measurement skills:
Which weighs more a pound of feathers or a pound of gold?
GregP - that's 3.1 million pounds sterling which would be 37,200,000 t oz of silver provided that the pound was actually backed by something other than a promise.
Privided you could actually get the silver metal, at $16.76 per t oz that would net you $623,472,000 USD
Pbehn - Depending on how far back you want to go in time English coinage was a bloomin nightmare. We have 1/4, 1/2, and 1/3 farthings. Farthing means "fourth part" so the 1/3 farthing coin was a 1/12 of a penny. Then the good olde "ha'penny" or 1/2 penny. The helm or 1/4 florin. Special Maundy coinage: "thrupp'nce" (Threepence) and the Groat or Joey which was 4 pence.
I remember being told that the price was 10 and 6. WHAT?? Well just give me that 1/2 guinea Guvner or seeing a price tag: £4/8/4d WHAT???
In England we just gave up trying to figure it all out and held out all our bills and coins and told them to take what they needed.
Thank God Alexander Hamilton metricized our money.
My Dad made $14 per week at his job