How much did Titanic cost to build

Hi, Matthew,

According to Bruce Ismay's U S Hearings testimony, she cost seven million, five hundred thousand dollars. Which has always been rather interesting to me as I would've thought he would've stated it it pounds. I suppose he was making it easier for the committee by translating pounds into dollars.

Best regards,
Cook
 
In those days the pound and the dollar were tied to the gold standard and the value of the pound relative to the dollar fluctuated a little on either side of 4.86 dollars to the pound.

In the hearings they took 5 dollars to the pound as being rough enough. Presumably the exact cost of Titanic is somewhere in the records of H & W but given Lord Pirrie's accounting methods I wouldn't bet on it. £1,500,000 is good enough.
 
Matthew:

To give you a relative perspective on cost...the Empress of Ireland cost 379,000 Pounds in 1906. A battle cruiser, built at the same shipyard in the same timeframe cost about 600,000 pounds. It is always interesting to read how various researchers translate contemporary cost to today's dollars. For example, Alan Hustak, in his book "Titanic--The Canadian Story" mentions that the Baxter's paid 237 Pounds for their Stateroom. "...the equivalent of $135,000 in today's money". Sounds a pinch overstated. I am no economist, but you have to take into account the value received for contemporary money. The formula of 5-to-1 is a great way to convert but it doesn't tell the whole story of what you could get for the money.
 
Dear David,

You wrote:
>Alan Hustak, in his book "Titanic--The Canadian Story" mentions that the Baxter's paid 237 Pounds for their Stateroom. "...the equivalent of $135,000 in today's money". Sounds a pinch overstated. I am no economist, but you have to take into account the value received for contemporary money.<

Just a guess here but wouldn't Alan be speaking primarily to a Canadian audience and, as such, be speaking of Canadian dollars? This, I believe, would lower this estimate considerably when compared to American dollars.

Just an opinion, take it for what it's worth.

Best regards
Cook
 
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