Russian sable fur coat

[Ballula]

Adeline Yen Mah's autobiography, Falling Leaves, was published in 1997.  Her second work, Chinese Cinderella, was an abridged version of her autobiography (until she leaves for England aged 14) published in 1999.

Her stepmother, who was much younger than her father and who was a mean, demanding, imposing figure, requested an extravagant gift from her father, a Russian sable fur coat that cost 4000 taels of silver.  One tael is fixed at 50 grams in China.  This was the late 1930s.  Doing some convoluted math, the coat would cost $217620.64 in today's dollars with the current price of silver at $33.84 per troy ounce (31.1 grams).

4000 times 50 = 200000

200000 divided by 31.1 = 6430.87

6430.87 times 33.84 = 217620.64

Edited April 1 by Ballula