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prices

物価　—　Phenomena

The height of the prices of things taken as a whole.

Eight reales of Potosí Eight reales of Potosí1556–1598 (Philip II) Sangpyeong Tongbo Sangpyeong TongboAD 1678– Assignat of 50 sols Assignat of 50 sols1793
A photograph of what this word names.

⚠ "Things have gotten more expensive" and "money has gotten cheaper" are two ways of describing the same event. People of the time usually recorded it as the former. When historical sources lament soaring prices, the way to read them is to look at what was happening on the monetary side.