Bilbo's Mithril in US$

Did anyone else out there watch Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring and wonder, “Wow that Mithril Armor just saved Frodo’s life. I want one of those! How rare is that really? How much would something like that really cost?” If so, you’re in the right place.

Okay, but surely someone else in the world has figured this out already.

Yes, I’m sure that they have. However, my Google search results only turned up one answer to my question. Although I certainly admire and applaud that individual’s efforts, I found a few flaws in their line of reasoning that I could not accept myself.

Firstly, if we are going to use Gold as a link between Mithril & U.S. Dollars, (which I think we probably can), then I do not think it is appropriate to assume that Gold is equally rare in both Middle-Earth and our Earth. I would make the argument that Gold is more common in Middle-Earth, and as such we cannot compare the supply of Gold in Middle-Earth to the supply of Gold on our planet.

Secondly, when we link Middle-Earth Gold to Middle-Earth Mithril, we cannot assume that we need the same weight of both Gold and Mithril. One of the most crucial advantages to Mithril is its remarkably light weight. Frodo, for instance, would have found it quite difficult to travel across all of Middle-Earth lugging around a Chain Shirt made of Steel or solid Gold.

Finally, we cannot assume the value of land in the Shire or account for the worth of all of the crops, homes, livestock and goods in the Shire. There are certainly far too many unknown factors at play there to rely on the quote relating the worth of Mithril to the worth of the entire Shire.

Alright, so what concessions do we have to make to accept this approximation?

I admit, there are a few less than certain factors we must come to terms with in order for my approach to be appropriate. Firstly, we have to be willing to accept Dungeons & Dragons as being a fair representation for the value of 1 Gold Piece, as well as the values of common commodities (Bread, Ale and Steel). As a lifelong Dungeons & Dragons fan, this was a concession that I was personally very willing to make.

Secondly, we have to be able to accept a commonality in the mark-up between the cost of master craftsmanship in Middle-Earth and the real world. This is a bit more of a stretch, but I think it would be inaccurate to omit the necessity of hiring a master smith to forge a chain shirt of Mithril armor, particularly in the Third Age of Middle-Earth. Since we cannot omit that consideration, I believe this is the best option available.

Where do We Start?

In order for any of the rest of this to matter, we know that we are going to need an exchange rate. How far can $100 get me in Middle-Earth? To answer this question, I needed to find common commodities, with known prices in both Dungeons & Dragons and the real world. I wanted to use two different common commodities and compare the results, just to make sure they were at least somewhat consistent. So, I chose a Loaf of Bread & a Mug of Ale.

Loaf of Bread in Dungeons & Dragons = 2 Copper Pieces (.02 Gold Pieces)

Loaf of Bread in the United States = On average, around $2.50

Mug of Ale (Tavern) in Dungeons & Dragons = 4 Copper Pieces (.04 Gold Pieces)

8–12oz Beer at a Bar in the United States = On average, around $5.00

In both examples, 1 Gold Piece = $150.00

Now What?

Now, we need to figure out how many Gold Pieces a Chain Shirt of Mithril would be worth. We know from Gandalf the Grey that, “Mithril is the Elvish name. The Dwarves have a name which they do not tell. Its worth was ten times that of gold, and now it is beyond price…” (The Fellowship of the Ring). Before Mithril became “beyond price,” meaning before the Balrog destroyed Khazad-dûm, it was valued at ten times the value of gold.

So, how much would a chain shirt of solid gold cost? Well no one forges a chain shirt out of solid gold, that would be a waste of the gold and a lousy excuse for armor. With that in mind, how much more valuable is Gold than Steel? According to Dungeons & Dragons, 1 ingot of Gold is 12.5 times more valuable than 1 ingot of Steel.

Since a Steel Chain Shirt in Dungeons & Dragons is valued at 50 Gold Pieces, we can conclude the following:

Steel Chain Shirt = 50 Gold Pieces

Gold Chain Shirt = 50 Gold Pieces x 12.5 = 625 Gold Pieces

Mithril Chain Shirt = 625 Gold Pieces x 10 = 6,250 Gold Pieces

Great! Now we can convert it to U.S. Dollars?

Not quite. 6,250 Gold Pieces is our estimated cost of materials for forging a Chain Shirt of Mithril, but what about the cost of labor? By the Third Age of Middle-Earth, very few Dwarves had ever even seen Mithril, much less had the knowledge and skill required to forge it into a Chain Shirt. With that in mind, it seems safe to assume that you would only bring your Mithril to the very best smith you could find.

So, how much more would that cost you? A master craftsman’s work does not come cheaply. Unfortunately, Tolkien did not provide us with any information on the mark-up of expert labor in Middle-Earth, (at least not to my knowledge). So, we will have to look at a real world example to estimate that increase in cost.

Richard Serra, widely regarded as one of the world’s most famous and high valued artists, sells his fine steel sculptures for an average of $1 million. (Just imagine how much he could sell a Mithril Sculpture for)! The average steel sculpture from your everyday sculptor of steel sells for around $200. In this case, Richard Serra’s expertise is valued at 5,000 times the rate of an average craftsman.

If we assume this same mark-up in the case of finding a Mithril Smith, which I do think is appropriate, then our new estimation is represented as:

6,250 Gold Pieces x 5,000 (Cost of Expert Craftsmanship) = 31,250,000 Gold Pieces

Time to Break the Bank!

Now, we are ready to convert our 31,250,000 Gold Pieces to U.S. Dollars! So:

31,250,000 Gold Pieces x 150 = $4,687,500,000

That’s it! Just a measly $4.5 billion, pocket change for most middle-class Americans and simple Hobbits. Of course, this is just the cost of your everyday Mithril Chain Shirt. If we wanted to estimate the cost of Frodo’s Mithril Chain Shirt, we would have to consider the combined mark-up of being worn by an Elven Prince, the renowned author Bilbo Baggins, and of course Frodo Baggins, Ring-Bearer and savior of Middle-Earth. Additionally, our estimate was based on the value of Mithril back when Dwarves were still able to mine the stuff, before the Balrogs ruined it for all of us… dumb Balrogs!

If you enjoyed this article, then please check out some of my other D&D/LotR musings:

Dungeons & Dragons: Find the Balance

Dungeons & Dragons: 5 Spells for Real Life

Lord of the Rings: Is Faramir Underrated?

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