Value of $0.02 from 1909 to 2016

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index, prices in 2016 are 2,537.44% higher than average prices since 1909. The U.S. dollar experienced an average inflation rate of 3.11% per year during this period, causing the real value of a dollar to decrease.

In other words, $0.02 in 1909 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $0.53 in 2016, a difference of $0.51 over 107 years.

The 1909 inflation rate was -1.09%. The inflation rate in 2016 was 1.26%. The 2016 inflation rate is lower compared to the average inflation rate of 2.01% per year between 2016 and 2020.

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Inflation from 1909 to 2016 Cumulative price change 2,537.44% Average inflation rate 3.11% Converted amount ($0.02 base) $0.53 Price difference ($0.02 base) $0.51 CPI in 1909 9.100 CPI in 2016 240.007 Inflation in 1909 -1.09% Inflation in 2016 1.26%

USD Inflation since 1635 Annual Rate, the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Download

Buying power of $0.02 in 1909 This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for $0.02 in 1909 (price index tracking began in 1635). For example, if you started with $0.02, you would need to end with $0.53 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation"). Download When $0.02 is equivalent to $0.53 over time, that means that the "real value" of a single U.S. dollar decreases over time. In other words, a dollar will pay for fewer items at the store. This effect explains how inflation erodes the value of a dollar over time. By calculating the value in 1909 dollars, the chart below shows how $0.02 is worth less over 107 years. Download According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, each of these USD amounts below is equal in terms of what it could buy at the time: Dollar inflation: 1909-2016 Year Dollar Value Inflation Rate 1909 $0.02 -1.09% 1910 $0.02 4.40% 1911 $0.02 0.00% 1912 $0.02 2.11% 1913 $0.02 2.06% 1914 $0.02 1.01% 1915 $0.02 1.00% 1916 $0.02 7.92% 1917 $0.03 17.43% 1918 $0.03 17.97% 1919 $0.04 14.57% 1920 $0.04 15.61% 1921 $0.04 -10.50% 1922 $0.04 -6.15% 1923 $0.04 1.79% 1924 $0.04 0.00% 1925 $0.04 2.34% 1926 $0.04 1.14% 1927 $0.04 -1.69% 1928 $0.04 -1.72% 1929 $0.04 0.00% 1930 $0.04 -2.34% 1931 $0.03 -8.98% 1932 $0.03 -9.87% 1933 $0.03 -5.11% 1934 $0.03 3.08% 1935 $0.03 2.24% 1936 $0.03 1.46% 1937 $0.03 3.60% 1938 $0.03 -2.08% 1939 $0.03 -1.42% 1940 $0.03 0.72% 1941 $0.03 5.00% 1942 $0.04 10.88% 1943 $0.04 6.13% 1944 $0.04 1.73% 1945 $0.04 2.27% 1946 $0.04 8.33% 1947 $0.05 14.36% 1948 $0.05 8.07% 1949 $0.05 -1.24% 1950 $0.05 1.26% 1951 $0.06 7.88% 1952 $0.06 1.92% 1953 $0.06 0.75% 1954 $0.06 0.75% 1955 $0.06 -0.37% 1956 $0.06 1.49% 1957 $0.06 3.31% 1958 $0.06 2.85% 1959 $0.06 0.69% 1960 $0.07 1.72% 1961 $0.07 1.01% 1962 $0.07 1.00% 1963 $0.07 1.32% 1964 $0.07 1.31% 1965 $0.07 1.61% 1966 $0.07 2.86% 1967 $0.07 3.09% 1968 $0.08 4.19% 1969 $0.08 5.46% 1970 $0.09 5.72% 1971 $0.09 4.38% 1972 $0.09 3.21% 1973 $0.10 6.22% 1974 $0.11 11.04% 1975 $0.12 9.13% 1976 $0.13 5.76% 1977 $0.13 6.50% 1978 $0.14 7.59% 1979 $0.16 11.35% 1980 $0.18 13.50% 1981 $0.20 10.32% 1982 $0.21 6.16% 1983 $0.22 3.21% 1984 $0.23 4.32% 1985 $0.24 3.56% 1986 $0.24 1.86% 1987 $0.25 3.65% 1988 $0.26 4.14% 1989 $0.27 4.82% 1990 $0.29 5.40% 1991 $0.30 4.21% 1992 $0.31 3.01% 1993 $0.32 2.99% 1994 $0.33 2.56% 1995 $0.33 2.83% 1996 $0.34 2.95% 1997 $0.35 2.29% 1998 $0.36 1.56% 1999 $0.37 2.21% 2000 $0.38 3.36% 2001 $0.39 2.85% 2002 $0.40 1.58% 2003 $0.40 2.28% 2004 $0.42 2.66% 2005 $0.43 3.39% 2006 $0.44 3.23% 2007 $0.46 2.85% 2008 $0.47 3.84% 2009 $0.47 -0.36% 2010 $0.48 1.64% 2011 $0.49 3.16% 2012 $0.50 2.07% 2013 $0.51 1.46% 2014 $0.52 1.62% 2015 $0.52 0.12% 2016 $0.53 1.26% 2017 $0.54 2.13% 2018 $0.55 2.49% 2019 $0.56 1.76% 2020 $0.57 1.67%* * Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See * Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value. Click to show 101 more rows Download as CSV/Excel This conversion table shows various other 1909 amounts in 2016 dollars, based on the 2,537.44% change in prices: Conversion Table: Value of a dollar in 2016 Initial value Equivalent value $1 dollar in 1909 $26.37 dollars in 2016 $5 dollars in 1909 $131.87 dollars in 2016 $10 dollars in 1909 $263.74 dollars in 2016 $50 dollars in 1909 $1,318.72 dollars in 2016 $100 dollars in 1909 $2,637.44 dollars in 2016 $500 dollars in 1909 $13,187.20 dollars in 2016 $1,000 dollars in 1909 $26,374.40 dollars in 2016 $5,000 dollars in 1909 $131,871.98 dollars in 2016 $10,000 dollars in 1909 $263,743.96 dollars in 2016 $50,000 dollars in 1909 $1,318,719.78 dollars in 2016 $100,000 dollars in 1909 $2,637,439.56 dollars in 2016 $500,000 dollars in 1909 $13,187,197.80 dollars in 2016 $1,000,000 dollars in 1909 $26,374,395.60 dollars in 2016

Inflation by Country Inflation can also vary widely by country. For comparison, in the UK £0.02 in 1909 would be equivalent to £2.18 in 2016, an absolute change of £2.16 and a cumulative change of 10,823.16%. Compare these numbers to the US's overall absolute change of $0.51 and total percent change of 2,537.44%.

Inflation by Spending Category CPI is the weighted combination of many categories of spending that are tracked by the government. Breaking down these categories helps explain the main drivers behind price changes. This chart shows the average rate of inflation for select CPI categories between 1909 and 2016. Compare these values to the overall average of 3.11% per year: Category Avg Inflation (%) Total Inflation (%) $0.02 in 1909 → 2016 Food and beverages 4.07 7,075.46 1.44 Housing 4.31 9,081.82 1.84 Apparel 2.09 819.08 0.18 Transportation 3.29 3,081.53 0.64 Medical care 5.25 23,869.89 4.79 Recreation 1.11 224.34 0.06 Education and communication 2.14 859.72 0.19 Other goods and services 5.21 22,897.89 4.60 The graph below compares inflation in categories of goods over time. Click on a category such as "Food" to toggle it on or off: For all these visualizations, it's important to note that not all categories may have been tracked since 1909. This table and charts use the earliest available data for each category.

How to Calculate Inflation Rate for $0.02, 1909 to 2016 Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1909 and 2016: CPI in 2016 CPI in 1909 × 1909 USD value = 2016 USD value Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.S. CPI was 9.1 in the year 1909 and 240.007 in 2016: 240.007 9.1 × $0.02 = $0.53 $0.02 in 1909 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $0.53 in 2016. To get the total inflation rate for the 107 years between 1909 and 2016, we use the following formula: CPI in 2016 - CPI in 1909 CPI in 1909 × 100 = Cumulative inflation rate (107 years) Plugging in the values to this equation, we get: 240.007 - 9.1 9.1 × 100 = 2,537%

Comparison to S&P 500 Index The average inflation rate of 3.11% has a compounding effect between 1909 and 2016. As noted above, this yearly inflation rate compounds to produce an overall price difference of 2,537.44% over 107 years. To help put this inflation into perspective, if we had invested $0.02 in the S&P 500 index in 1909, our investment would be nominally worth approximately $434.65 in 2016. This is a return on investment of 2,173,143.98%, with an absolute return of $434.63 on top of the original $0.02. These numbers are not inflation adjusted, so they are considered nominal. In order to evaluate the real return on our investment, we must calculate the return with inflation taken into account. The compounding effect of inflation would account for 0.00% of returns ($0.00) during this period. This means the inflation-adjusted real return of our $0.02 investment is $0.00. You may also want to account for capital gains tax, which would take your real return down to around $0 for most people. Investment in S&P 500 Index, 1909-2016 Original Amount Final Amount Change Nominal $0.02 $434.65 2,173,143.98% Real

Inflation Adjusted $0.02 $0.00 0.00% Information displayed above may differ slightly from other S&P 500 calculators. Minor discrepancies can occur because we use the latest CPI data for inflation, annualized inflation numbers for previous years, and we compute S&P price and dividends from January of 1909 to latest available data for 2016 using average monthly close price. For more details on the S&P 500 between 1909 and 2016, see the stock market returns calculator.

News headlines from 1909 Politics and news often influence economic performance. Here's what was happening at the time: Russia invades Persia in support of Mohammed Ali Shah's coup d'etat against the Persian Government.

News that Robert Peary has discovered the North Pole reaches the world 5 months after the discovery took place.

Leo Baekeland of Yonkers New York patents the process of thermosetting plastic.

Data Source & Citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (CPI), established in 1913. Inflation data from 1665 to 1912 is sourced from a historical study conducted by political science professor Robert Sahr at Oregon State University.

You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “$0.02 in 1909 → 2016 | Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 21 Sep. 2020, https://www.officialdata.org/1909-dollars-in-2016?amount=0.02.

Special thanks to QuickChart for their chart image API, which is used for chart downloads.

in2013dollars.com is a reference website maintained by the Official Data Foundation.