Estimate of the price tag for the first New Testament ever printed in German

In 1522, Martin Luther published his translation of the New Testament from Latin into German. Bound copies of the first and second printings were sold for 1 Gulden.

What would that be in terms of today’s money?

I infer a price tag of about $900.

After running out of 5,000 copies in the first and second printings, bound copies from the third printing went for 3 Guldens. I’ll guess that is roughly equivalent to about $2,700 now.

If you want to see more details, sourcing, and my calculations, check out the post at my other blog, Ancient Finances:

• Price tag for the first New Testament printed in vernacular expressed in terms of the cost of a butchered hog