1733 Hudson Bay Trade Goods.

In 1733 at the Albany Post, the Hudson’s Bay Company sold goods at the following rates:  

Item	#MB		Item	#MB
¾ pound coloured beads	1		1 file	1
1 brass kettle	1		20 gunflints	1
1 pound lead	1		1 gun [probably a musket]	10-12
1 ½ pounds gunpowder	1		1 pistol	4
2 pounds sugar	1		1 gun-worm	1
2 pounds “Brazil” tobacco	1		1 pair yarn gloves	1
1 ½ pounds leaf tobacco	1		2 goggles	1
1 ½ pounds roll tobacco	1		1 handkerchief	1
1 pound thread	1		1 hat	1
1 ½ ounce vermillion	1		2 hatchets	1
1 gallon brandy	1		8 hawk bells	1
2 yards broad cloth	1		2 ice chisels	1
1 blanket	1		8 knives	1
12 awls	1		2 looking glasses	1
12 dozen buttons	1		12 needles	1
1 pair breeches	1		2 net lines	1
2 combs	1		2 powderhorns	1
2 red feathers	1		6 plain rings	1
20 fish hooks	1		3 stone rings	1
4 fire steels	1		2 scrapers	1
2 sword blades	1		1 pair stockings	1 ¼
4 spoons	1		2 sashes	1
2 shirts	1		6 thimbles	1
1 pair shoes	1		2 tobacco boxes	1

The Hudson's Bay Company eventually introduced coins to facilitate the fur trade. The coins were minted of brass or copper and were issued in units of Made Beaver. The coins were paid to the Indian hunter for the furs he brought in.  The coins could then be spent like cash inside the Hudson's Bay Company store.

In 1821 Nicholas Garry of the Hudson’s Bay Company writes about his trade in the Hudson Bay drainage basin and stated:      

1 hatchet = 2 beaver

 1 trade gun=11 beaver

 1 3-gallon kettle=6 beaver

Beaver at this time were worth about $6 and a small axe could be purchased in Montreal for 50 cents or less. 

http://www.mman.us/tradegoods.htm 

Trade Goods 1733.

Standard of Trade - Albany Fort, 1733

A Beaver Pelt could buy one of the following:

Item	Amount		Item	Amount
Beads (Coloured)	¾ lb.		Pistols	[1 for 4 pelts]
Kettle, Brass	1		Gun Worms	1
Lead, Black	1 lb.		Gloves, Yarn	1
Gun Powder	1 ½ lb.		Goggles	2
Shot	5 lbs.		Handkerchiefs	1
Sugar	2 lbs.		Hats, laced	1
Tobacco, Brazil	2 lbs.		Hatchets	2
Ditto Leaf or Roll	1 ½ lbs.		Hawk Bells	8
Thread	1 lb.		Ice Chisels	2
Vermilion	1 ½ oz		Knives	8
Brandy	1 gallon		Looking Glasses	2
Broad Cloth	2 yard		Mocotagans (Curved Knives)	2
Blankets	1		Needles	12
Flannel	2 yard		Net-Lines	2
Gartering	2 yard		Powder Horns	2
Awl Blades	12		Plain Rings	6
Buttons	12 dozen		Stone Rings	3
Breeches	1 pair		Scrapers	2
Combs	2		Sword Blades	2
Egg Boxes	4		Spoons	4
Feathers, red	2		Shirts	2
Fish Hooks	20		Shoes	1 pair
Fire Steels	4		Stocking	[1 for 1 ¼ pelts]
Files	1		Sashes, Worsted	2
Flints	20		Thimbles	6
Guns	[1 for 10 to 12 pelts]		Tobacco Boxes	2

Information found at: http://www2.hbc.com/hbcheritage/history/business/fur/standardtrade1733.asp