How does money gain value? Why would £100 from 100 years ago be worth more now?
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It doesn’t. I’m assuming you’re thinking of statements like “this thing was worth X dollars in 1850, the equivalent of Y in today’s dollars”
This is to account for inflation. Think back to when you were a kid, and $5 could buy almost anything, but now you’ve very little change after buying a bottle of Coke and a Snickers…
Inflation devalues currency over time, and so when comparing value across time, it’s common to adjust for inflation as in the example above. It’s not that a $100 bill from 1920 is more valuable now, it’s that if you had $100 in 1920, that was worth more than you having $100 today
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