WW1 Officer's Compass dated 1917

[rus]

This is my grandfather's compass, which is a nice quality item. Does anyone know approx. how much it would have cost when new?

[LoyalHistorian]

Glad to see you've been using the forum, Russell! That is a beautiful compass! I was hoping to find an old advertisement showing the price, but I haven't had any luck. As nice as it looks, it does seem like it would have been expensive back when it was made. I read they were made for British officers. But I only know what I've just read about it. Here's just a little history I found online about it, though you've probably already done the basic research on it. This one looks to be the Verners Pattern VIII.



Here's the link where I found the above information: Verners Pattern VIII Prismatic Compass :: Rochester Avionic Archives.

[rus]

Thank you, yes there is info about the compasses but little about where they were bought from and how much they cost. I suppose military outfitters sold them and so they weren't advertised to the public.

The nearest idea of original price I have found is this american advert from about 1920, which is advertising new-old-stock US military compasses at a large discount. It suggests the orginal price was $10-$15 that would be about $130-$195 today.
I expect in the UK the Verner-style would be more expensive than that.


from
Marching compasses 2

[Ubique]

Not the same compass but close I guess. 22 shillings Australian in 1916.
Apologies for the quality of the image.