So how much did a frigate cost in 1780?

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

Originally Posted by em2nought

Wow, building a replica today costs $27 million. http://www.denverpost.com/breakingne...ts-sail-boston

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financi...olutionary_War States, if correct, that France, Spain, and the Netherlands loaned us over $10 million during the war so this replica frigate costs more now than double our loans back then? Wow!

You forgot inflation. For example $10 million in 1913 dollars is $238.5 million in 2015 dollars. I didn't find inflation calculator capable of going back to 1780 but that loan was huge back then.

EDIT: ...or perhaps not. I didn't take into account the fact that U.S. was new republic back then so estimating value of 1780's dollar in today's dollars isn't that straightforward. Anyway directly comparing $10 million dollar loan back then with construction costs in today's dollars is misleading unless I misread you and that $10 millions is in today's dollars.