Angående diskussion på pubmöte så verker det som om det kan ha kostat 1 shilling att skicka ett vanligt enkelpapprigt brev under den tidsperiod jag pratade om (Regency).
During the wars against France (1793-1815) the income was regarded as a tax levied to help the war effort, but once Napoleon had been defeated, there was a backlash of feeling against the high rates. By this time, it was often hard to decide if it was worth sending a letter at all: the cost of a letter could be as much as a day's wages for a working man. It became a matter of importance to get around the cost in one way or another. For instance it was cheaper to send a letter from London to Scotland by the coastal shipping - 8 pence instead of by road which cost 13½ pence (1sh.1½d).
http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/letters/relative.html
Så runt 1 shilling. Det går 20 shilling på ett pund.
For instance, a maid servant in Regency times could earn anything from £5-15 a year, including room and board, often also working clothes. Persons in domestic service were comparatively well off when contrasted with factory workers or the dress makers apprentices who made hardly enough to starve on. The middle and upper classes could not conceive an income of less than £100 a year for a single person, or £200 for a couple. If your income was less than this you probably had to work for a living.
Med 100 pund om året så var ett brev 1/2000-del av årsinkomsten. Betydligt dyrare än idag. Och för lågavlönade tjänstefolk kunde ett brev kosta en dagsinkomst att skicka.