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Specific_Success_875 OP t1_isi5x64 wrote

Reply to comment by Lemmonjello in TIL that Napoleon once gave an ornately decorated tiara (a crown) to the pope with 3345 precious jewels inlaid into it. This was actually intended to be an insult, as the tiara weighed 18 pounds and was too small to fit on a human head. by Specific_Success_875

It basically is nothing nowadays. Back then a gift costing 179,800 francs is a "fuck you" only affordable by someone as rich and powerful as the Emperor of France.

Nowadays any ruler of a minor country can throw that kind of money around. heck any CEO of a medium-sized company has that kind of money.

The weird thing about inflation is that the amount of wealth in the world has gone up by a lot more than the cost of goods. Looking at luxury items from centuries ago is crazy because a lot of them aren't that expensive when adjusted for inflation.

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