In addition to its being at first too strong for big guns, corned powder had the disadvantage of being dearer than serpentine. The latter was sold in 1569 at £80 the last (2400 lbs.); the former in 1570 at £90.[436] The following Table gives the price of English powder at various times:—
TABLE V.
Price of English Gunpowder per lb.
| Nature. | 1347 | 1378 | 1462[437] | 1482[438] | 1569[439] | 1578[440] | 1588[441] | 1595[442] | 1695[443] | 1865[444] |
| d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | |
| Serpentine | 13-3/4 | 13-2/3 | 12 | 10 | 8 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| Corned | ... | ... | ... | ... | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 10-3/4 | 7 |
| Fine | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 11 | ... | ... | ... | ... |
The remarkable uniformity in the prices of English powder has been noticed by Prof. Rogers in his “History of Agriculture and Prices,” iv. 631. He thinks that “fine” powder meant priming powder, because infantry soldiers were usually served out with 1 lb. “common” (corned) powder and ¼-lb. “fine” powder. It doubtless did at one time; but the term was applied to all small-arm powder eventually.[445]
The prices of the first two powders have necessarily been calculated. The price of charcoal in 1347 was .013d. per lb.; in 1378 it was .02d.[446] The prices of sulphur and saltpetre in 1347 were 8d. and 18d. per lb. respectively;[447] in 1378 they were (for large quantities) 4d. and 20d. respectively.[448] From an English MS., quoted by the Emperor Napoleon III., it appears that the cost of manufacturing powder at Southampton in 1474 was .864d. per lb.;[449] and, as it is the only fact available, I have been obliged to assume that this was the cost of making powder in 1347 and 1378. But it is probably not far from the truth. The proportions taken for the 1347 powder are Arderne’s, 6-2-1; those for 1378, 3-1-1. From these data we have:—
| 1347. | 1378. | ||
| d. | d. | ||
| 6 lbs. saltpetre | 108. | 3 lbs. saltpetre | 60. |
| 2 “ charcoal | .026 | 1 lb. charcoal | .02 |
| 1 lb. sulphur | 8. | 1 ” sulphur | 4. |
| Price of 9 lbs. of materials | 116.026 | Price of 5 lbs. of materials | 64.02 |
| ” ” 1 lb. ” ” | 12.892 | ” ” 1 lb. ” ” | 12.80 |
| Cost of making, per lb. | .864 | Cost of making, per lb. | .864 |
| Price of 1 lb. | 13.756 | Price of 1 lb. | 13.664 |
The price of French powder in 1375 was 120d. per lb.;[450] but in order to be able to compare it with the price of English powder in 1378, we must know the ratio of French to English money at that period. The French Troyes livre then contained 5760 gs.; the English Tower pound 5400 gs. Therefore—
1 livre (pure silver) = 16/15 pound (pure silver).