What do you have in your coinpurse?

[Shaddakim]

I'm doing some re-vamp work on my campaign and have a question for everyone:

 

Does the money in your game have specific names for the coins (penny [copper], denarii [silver], noble [gold], bar [platinum]) or do you use the generic version (cp, sp, gp, pp)?

 

I am interested in everyones experience on this. Thank you for your time in advance.

[Edsel]

In our last fantasy campaign there were 4 different coinage standards that dominated to currency market. Each currency had its own names for the coins within them but we included a chart that gave the equivant values in the traditional manner. For instance a Gold Crown was worth 2 Gp standard.

 

One of the varieties of currency was simply the Gp, Sp, Cp thing but each coin had its own name and that currency was generally considered the standard by most merchants.

 

I know these details are a bit sketchy but I am typing this at work during my lunch break so I do not have our background material here with me.

 

It is an interesting idea and can add a lot of flavor to a game, however in our experience everybody still kept track of their personal wealth in terms of the traditional Gp, Sp, Cp, etc. standard.

[Guest Worldmaker]

My gameworld, Taranche, operates on the silver standard. And that's about the only unified thing you can say about its economy.

 

The Imperial System: The Imperial system is perhaps the most widespread currency system in the Young Kingdoms; Imperial coins are still being minted and exchanged in the Border Kingdoms, the Broken Kingdom, Soravia, Tyressel, Beurenist, Goertha despite it being just over 700 years since the fall of the Taor Empire.

 

1 gold consalte = 10 silver predes = 100 copper pisantes

 

Imperial coins are about the same size and weight as an American quarter. Each coin has a hole in its center, through which is run a thin metal rod. The usual length of such rods is such as to hold 100 coins. Such a system aids in sorting, counting and transportation. Each type of coin has a differently shaped hole to prevent intermixing of coins: consaltes have triangular holes, predes have square holes, and pisantes have octagonal holes.

 

 

The Lemenari System: The currency used by the people of the Lemenar Archipelago is perhaps the second-most widespread type of currency, if only because Lemenari ships trade nearly everywhere. You can find Lemenari coins as far inland as Bor Aladorna. The Lemenari system has been in use for almost 500 years.

 

1 gold drokmire = 5 silver genai = 100 copper drenth

 

Lemenari coins are small, averaging the same size and weight as an American dime.

 

 

The EasterSea System: The third most widespread system of coinage is the so-called EasterSea System. Through centuries of interkingdom trade, Soravia, Calafia, Gallesgna, and Keleven, and the other kingdoms along the shores of the EasterSea have developed a unified and coherent currency system.

 

1 gold crown © = 10 silver pennies (p) = 20 copper farthings (f)

 

These coins often end up in neighboring nations.

 

 

The Jarisian System: Unique among the various peoples of the Young Kingdoms, the Jaris use paper money. Called dinars, these bills of credit are painstakingly created by talented craftsmen using printing-press technology (a technological secret which has not yet found its way to the wider world).

 

Each Jarisian kingdom prints its own currency, and each bill carries the signature of the King, his picture, and his seal. The bills are printed in 1, 10, 100, and 1000 dinar values.

 

Dinars are considered utterly worthless outside of their native lands. Some, however, can be found in the purses of the more well-to-do Beurenisti and sometimes in the Border Kingdoms.

 

 

The Dwarven System: Dwarves cling stubbornly to tradition, which is how this system of currency has remained unchanged for thousands of years. Raw iron forms the backbone of dwarven currency. A dwarf plucks his own wealth from the ground with his own hands. Purified iron is used as wealth based on weight. This follows the dwarven belief that hard work is rewarded and the lazy should go hungry.

 

Beyond mining iron from the ground as wealth, dwarves use large and decorative coins. The krona is a large copper coin with intricate etchings. It is the least valuable and most common coin. A kegran is a large silver coin with an embedded jewel, usually a ruby or emerald. A mourin is a highly decorative golden disk about seven inches in diameter. A mourin is etched with runes and simple images and is almost always crusted with small gems. A mourin is more like a small work of art than a coin. Many dwarves specialize in the manufacture of these items. Others pay for them with raw iron.

 

1 mourin = 7 kegran = 49 krona

 

While dwarven currency is prized in many nations for the materials and workmanship that go into them, the dwarves themselves care little for the money of other nations and usually melt such coins down for the metal.

 

 

Mixed Economies: Many nations, because of their nature or geography, conduct trade with many other cultures. These include Dentraver, the cities of the Lost Coast, the Frontier cities, the Free Cities, Povero, and Last Point. These nations, for various reasons, accept virtually all currencies, either at face value or for the base weight of the metal in their make.

 

Many of these nations allow trade and barter right along side the various currencies. So, a citizen of Dentraver might pay for goods with silver predes, copper pennies, or even a chicken. Such an unorganized system might seem unstable, but in practice, such systems tend to balance themselves due to internal economic forces.

 

 

Trade and Barter: Some societies exist using nothing more than barter, tempered by tradition, custom, and common law. Such societies include the Chayk, Rostok, and Nerulk barbarians, the Aateni, the people of Alebron Island, and the goblin tribes.

[Vanguard00]

Re: What do you have in your coinpurse?

 

Originally posted by Shaddakim

I'm doing some re-vamp work on my campaign and have a question for everyone:

 

Does the money in your game have specific names for the coins (penny [copper], denarii [silver], noble [gold], bar [platinum]) or do you use the generic version (cp, sp, gp, pp)?

 

 

Give the coinage names, by all means. It's these "little" details that promote the feeling of "realistic" fantasy. Even if it's only basic and/or thinly-veiled thievery, the names of money can make a big difference in believability.

 

For example, go with something basic:

 

gold = Imperials

silver = Orbs

copper = Crescents

 

Then, when working on another land, give them different names and slightly different values. For example:

 

2 Dragons (of Kyrindor) is equal to 3 Imperials (of Byrash)

 

...or something along those lines.

 

Worldmaker's system is an excellent example of something more extensive, but don't be afraid to use something simple like a name change, either.

[MarkusDark]

I had come up with an entirely new coin system...

 

For a Live Action game, I had a system called Lunars. They were based upon the phases of the moon.

 

You'd have a quarter Lunar, or a Phase (shaped like a crescent moon), a half Lunar (shaped like half a circle) and then a Lunar (a full coin). They were made out of silver.

 

Then you had the gold coins. A gold Phase was same shape as a silver Phase and worth 7 silver Lunars (or 28 Phases). And then you had the gold half Lunar and then the full gold Lunar.

 

That was it. Something a player came up with was that if he was out of money, he was "New" (as in a New Moon).

 

However, I was eventually over-ruled by 'old school' neoates that wanted the 100cp=10sp=1gp so I dropped a grand and got them.

[Steve Long]

There's a sidebar in FH with a long list of real-world names for various medieval-era coinage. That'll help you some in the near future.

 

Beyond that, you can always name 'em after what they depict, or their shape.

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Re: What do you have in your coinpurse?

 

Originally posted by Vanguard00

Worldmaker's system is an excellent example of something more extensive, but don't be afraid to use something simple like a name change, either.

 

Just a small indicator of why I use "Worldmaker" as a handle. I tend to go freaking nuts with the detail...

 

But then, as a Global Guardians participant, you know this already.

[Edsel]

Now that I am home and have access to my book, below is the break down of coinage in our old fantasy campaign. Starting with Corindian which was the standard used by most merchants. The coin vary in purity from mint to mint and thus the weight varies.

 

Corindian

Gold Penny = 1 gp = 10 sp, weight 1/4 oz.

Silver Penny = 1 sp = 10 bp, weight 1/4 oz.

Bronze Penny = 1 bp = 10 cp, weight 1/2 oz.

Copper Penny = 1 cp = 10 tp, weight 1/4 oz.

Tin Penny = 1 tp, weight 1/4 oz.

 

Galean

Gold Hundredpiece = 20 gp = 200 sp, weight 5 oz.

Gold Crown = 2 gp = 20 sp, weight 1/2 oz.

Silver Star = 4 sp = 40 bp, weight 1 oz.

Silver Royal = 1 sp = 10 bp, weight 1/4 oz.

Bronze Copper = 1/2 bp = 5 cp, weight 1/4 oz.

Copper Half = 1/4 bp = 2 1/2 cp, weight 5/8 oz.

Copper Bit = 1 cp = 10 tp, weight 1/4 oz.

 

Ambrian

Gold Piece = 1 gp = 10 sp, weight 1/4 oz.

Silver Piece = 1 sp = 10 bp, weight 1/4 oz.

Copper = 1 cp = 10 tp, weight 1/4 oz.

Half-copper = 1/2 cp = 5 tp, weight 1/8 oz.

Quater Copper = 1/4 cp = 2 1/2 tp, weight 1/16 oz.

 

Dwarven

Gold Royal = 12 gp = 120 sp, weight 2 oz.

Gold Round = 1 gp = 10 sp, weight 1/7 oz.

Silver Shield = 2 sp = 20 bp, weight 1/3 oz.

Silver Round = 1 sp = 10 bp, weight 1/7 oz.

Bronze Round = 1 bp = 10 cp, weight 1/4 oz.

Copper Round = 1 cp = 10 tp, weight 1/4 oz.

 

Kalanarian

Sulus = 1 gp = 10 sp, weight 1/4 oz.

Aire = 1 sp = 10 bp, weight 1/4 oz.

Dink = 1 bp = 10 cp, weight 1/2 oz.

Nok = 1 1/5 cp = 12 tp, weight 2/5 oz.

Dot = 1 tp, weight 1/4 oz.

 

Cammon

Olm = 2 gp = 20 sp, weight 1/2 oz.

Dralak = 1 sp = 10 bp, weight 1/4 oz.

Darl = 1/2 sp = 5 bp, weight 1/8 oz.

Drim = 1 bp = 10 cp, weight 1/2 oz.

Dram = 1/2 cp = 5 tp, weight 1/8 oz.

[tkdguy]

I have a few sources that state the ratio 1:20:12. That means 1 gp = 20 sp, and 1 sp = 12 cp. By the 17th century, at least, a copper coin was considered too debased to be of any value.

 

Here are some values for coinage from GURPS Swashbucklers. I'll also include the metal used, according to the book: Au = gold, Ag = silver, Cu = copper (see above note).

 

Spain: 1 Doblon/Doubloon (Au) = 2 Pistoles (Au) = 5 Pesos/Pieces of eight (Ag) = 40 Reals (Ag) = 1360 Maravedis (Cu) = $100

 

France: 1 Louis d'Or/Pistole (Au) = 3 Ecus (Ag) = 9 Livre (Ag) = 180 Sous (Cu) = $60

 

England: 1 Guinea (Au) = 1.05 Pounds (a unit of account, not a coin) = 4.2 Crowns (Ag) = 21 Shillings (Ag) = 252 Pennies (Cu) = $105

 

Holland: 1 Ducat (Au) = 2.5 Lion Dollars (Ag) = 5 Florins/Guldens/Guilders (Ag) = 100 Stuivers (Cu) = $40

 

Don't worry about farthings, ha'pennies, groots, piastres, krone, and the like...you'll only go insane.

[CrosshairCollie]

I was in a game once where someone had fancy names for all the different types of coinage ...

 

We could never remember them. So we didn't even have 'gold pieces' ... it was 'gold thingies' or 'silver whatsits'.

[AnotherSkip]

Make up a decent story about _why_ the coin is named as such, and go with that, the example below is one of the seven stoire I have about the coins of the world for my fantasy campaign, also don't forget the chart too.....(since I dont use the 1to 10 ratio since that was developed during the American post colonial period IIRC)

 

The Arbelest Shael first began life as a comissioned piece from the Kingdom of Arbelest in honor of the 50th anniversarry of the wedding of the Paen and Arbelest Kingdoms. Eventually the popularity of this royally wed couple proved that at least a sign of their love would one day outlive all but their own legends. A half dozen unclipped Shaels is regarded as being worth a Sundollar, typically, though most are clipped and so are only considered 1/10th the value of a Sundollar. The Shael bears the name and image of the ship belonging to the Arbelst Princess who became queen of Arbelest through the marriage of herself to the Paen prince. The reverse is marked with the rock the prince sat awaiting upon his princess, as well as being a place where he sought solitude and to finally come to love the sea as much as his homeland. The edge of the coin is marked with seascrolling around the edge, however since this easily fades the coins are more easily clipped than any others of higher value.

[ZootSoot]

Re: What do you have in your coinpurse?

 

Originally posted by Shaddakim

I'm doing some re-vamp work on my campaign and have a question for everyone:

 

Does the money in your game have specific names for the coins (penny [copper], denarii [silver], noble [gold], bar [platinum]) or do you use the generic version (cp, sp, gp, pp)?

 

I am interested in everyones experience on this. Thank you for your time in advance.

 

Well, usually each authority in my campaigns tends to use only one species when minting coins (silver is preferred) and everyone of them likes to have them be roughly the same value as their competitors, so most tag their size and metal content to the dominant economy, though they might be using a different species for their coins. I try to name two or three of these currencies, but the name of the dominant economy is what is usually used generically.

[TechnoViking]

Hopefully I will have $31.99 +tax in coinpurse to buy FH when it gets to Utah.

 

Mike

[tiger]

A Snapping turtlt..keeps thieves on thier toes.

[AnotherSkip]

After a few encounters with snapping tutrles I too would be using my toes for just about everything......

[Markdoc]

I use different currencies - I even have picures of many of the coins. And to add to the fun, some cultures have lots of "odd" coins minted for special occasions, or old coins that are in circulation, but no longer made.

 

Not only does it add atmosphere, but it also allows me to throw in coins as clues.

 

When the players search the body :-) and find a pouch full of rudely-formed gold beads instead of the expected coins, it makes the smart ones go "Hmmmm. Where did THESE come from?"

 

As a final bonus, it allows me to strip away wealth from the PCs though the need to change strange "furrin" currency into somthing that people will accept where they are currently living.

 

cheers, Mark

[PhilFleischmann]

No Money? Blasphemy!

 

I never bothered working out a detailed coinage system for my FH world - which is somewhat surprising considering all the other details I did work out (calendar, zodiac, heavenly bodies, dieties, etc.). I don't keep strict track of money in my campaign. This must come across as heresy to some, but I've always found it too boring to spend time on. I want my players to be adventurers, not accountants. This was one of the things I always hated when I was living in the primordial slime of deendee that we all crawled out of. Money just isn't interesting enough to keep track of every fictitious coin. If I wanted to play Monopoly, I'd play Monopoly.

 

You may say: But how do you regulate what equipment players can buy? Simple: If they don't have the Money Perk, they only have access to standard "middle-class" equipment (assuming it's available at all in the town where they happen to be). In my campaign, there are no "magic item stores" where you can buy fireball wands and invisibility cloaks and talking swords off the rack.

 

I keep the world's economics fairly simple and vague: commoners do most of their trading via the barter system. In urban areas, coins are used. Unskilled laborers (swineherds, woodcutters, farmhands) are paid in copper. Skilled laborers (smiths, bakers, carpenters, craftsmen) are paid in silver. Gold is almost exclusively for the rich.

 

In a medieval-style society almost no one (except the PCs) are "upwardly mobile." If you're born a peasant, you'll stay a peasant. If you're born a noble, you might squander it all away and end up penniless, through gambling, drinking, wenching, etc., but apart from that, you'll tend to remain rich.

 

The two main nations in the central area of the campaign - Virbenland, and Neron - use similar coins which are usually considered interchangable. A Neronian silver piece is the same size as a Virbenlandic silver piece. Only the design engraved thereon is different. In more distant lands, such as Temna, on the far side of the Snake Peaks, other types of currency are used such as electrum. And in some, such as the primitive Boo-Wa-Doki, far to the south, they have no coins at all (and almost no metal to speak of), and sometimes use ceramic beads as a means of exchange.

 

That's about it. No price lists. No inventories of how many GPs, SPs, and CPs each player has. I say to the players, "You're strangers here. Rugged adventurers, not noblemen on a diplomatic mission. You won't be sleeping in the palace. You'll be sleeping at the inn where other common travellers stay. However, unlike most common travellers, you can afford to each stay in your own room (subject to availability) because of the treasure you've accumulated."

[Shaddakim]

Hey, I wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. My apologies for the extreme delay in this. Everything said was useful and provided me with views I had not thought of.

 

Again, my thanks to everyone.

[Citizen Keen]

Yeah, I have to say that the Money Perk concept in HERO made my day. No more accounting. I still intend to put lots of detail into coinages used in different kingdoms, but now I can just give people the stuff they get with no accounting.

[Talon]

I took a middle road -- I kept money in, but generalized it to one set of coins across cultures. As others have said, it's not something that most people want to pay attention to. I used special names, but tried to keep them memorable: crowns, stars, pennies, etc. I was running low-fantasy, where money tends to be more of an issue; if I ran high-fantasy, I'd be tempted to just try the Perk (although, how do you handle finding treasure?).

[Jeff]

Originally posted by Geoff Speare

I took a middle road -- I kept money in, but generalized it to one set of coins across cultures. As others have said, it's not something that most people want to pay attention to. I used special names, but tried to keep them memorable: crowns, stars, pennies, etc. I was running low-fantasy, where money tends to be more of an issue; if I ran high-fantasy, I'd be tempted to just try the Perk (although, how do you handle finding treasure?).

If characters opt/manage to keep it, the player buys the Money perk. Think of it as a financial radiation accident.

 

If characters opt to give it away, it's given away and, if it's a suitable decent donation, they're being heroic that way too - although reputations for charity can be dangerous in their own way.

 

If characters aren't careful, they can lose it in any number of incidents of GM nastiness. Be creative!

[McCoy]

My last campagine was strongly Runequest influenced. The God of Trade had instituted a common currency throughout civilization, the coins may have different designs, but they all weighed one ounce troy and were used from one end of the contenent to the other. Blogs were lead, clacks copper, lunars silver, and wheels gold. There was also a decimal system, 1 Wheel = 10 Lunars = 100 Clacks = 1000 Blogs.

 

Simply as a cost example, a Wheel could support an average family for a month. A mercenary could be hired to guard a caravan for a lunar a day, double for each day they actually fought. Unskilled labor was usually 2 Clacks a day, an apprentice 3, a journyman 4. At an Inn 2 clacks would get you bread and stew and the privilege of sleeping on the floor of the common room (all alcoholic beverages extra).

 

Odd coins and differing exchange rates are certainly realistic, but I didn't want to make the game about the acqusition of wealth.

[Citizen Keen]

Originally posted by Geoff Speare

...I'd be tempted to just try the Perk (although, how do you handle finding treasure?).

 

I generally have characters have spending habits equal to their level of Money Perk or more. Examples (this post isn't going to be cogent because I'm not)

 

One player is a luckless gambler. While he frequently finds treasure, he gambles it all away into debt. As such he is poor.

 

Another player saves everything - as such, he is well off.

 

If the poor player was convinced by his friends to buy a weapon I reserve for my choice or Well-Off or above, then it would be stolen very quickly.

[Blue]

Mildly amusing story:

 

I mentioned to the players that money was different from continent to continent. The characters were so used to gold and silver as currency that when they came across the opportunity to make off with a chest full of very heavy silver coins or to load their boat with a much greater quantity of of northern coins (Simply called "Northers" by the denizens of the southern continent) they naturally went with the metal coins. Of course they'd have had enough money for a fleet of ships if they'd taken the cheaper looking coins becasue the next thing they were going to do is go to the northern continent (I forget the name). Instead they were only able to charter one other ship as a guide around the north.

 

The northerners used "bone" coins because they were lighter, for the very reason that they spent so much time in longboats. Metal coins are useless to them and too soft to melt for weapons.

[Blue Jogger]

Re: What do you have in your coinpurse?

 

I used the following for mine:

 

1 Golden Royal = 20 Royals = 400 Silver = 8000 Ol' Yellers

$2000 = 20 $100 = 400 $5 = 8000 quarters

 

Ol' Yellers were what happen to "gold pieces" after magic went away and revealed that all gold coins were actually enchanted counterfeit gold-colored rocks.