Our lists and figures are from a later date. When the war began, life in Richmond seemed normal for a few months, but as the new Confederate government printed money by fiat, the price of everything rose. In the spring of 1864, as things approached a crisis point, the Richmond Enquirer reported the following commodities and prices.

Oysters sold for $16 per gallon, and flour for $120 per barrel. Wheat sold for $16 to $20 per barrel, while coffee—the thing most missed by Richmonders—sold for $11.50 per pound. Brown sugar sold for $3.40 per pound, and crushed sugar for $5.50. Even a cursory examination of these prices suggests that either the Confederate government was, indeed, printing money like wildfire, or most people were simply going without.