Is there a name for the coins minted in various places?
Where are some major mints? I'd think that most 'modern' coins in Varisia would be minted either in Magnimar and Korvosa, but necklaces of threaded gold rings, breakable into smaller pieces were common currency in Europe during a comparable age...
Anyway, are there names for the coins in common distribution? Above and beyond the generic gold, silver, etc...
Creative Director
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Is there a name for the coins minted in various places?
Where are some major mints? I'd think that most 'modern' coins in Varisia would be minted either in Magnimar and Korvosa, but necklaces of threaded gold rings, breakable into smaller pieces were common currency in Europe during a comparable age...Anyway, are there names for the coins in common distribution? Above and beyond the generic gold, silver, etc...
There's not any names for coins in Pathfinder... yet.
I always liked the idea of naming coins. Coins should have names, usually derived from what's stamped on the coin.
However, since reading George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, I have become utterly unoriginal, and think GP should be called Dragons, and SP should be called Stags.
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I've already kind of named them in my campaign. I created an organization, a branch of the church of Abadar, called The Bursers of the First Vault. They maintain the mints in Korvosa and Magnimar at the King and Lord-Mayor's pleasure, but neither would publicly censure them for fear of economic instability. Most wealthy Chelaxians claim to trust in the providence of Abadar, at least publicly. Both cities mint gold and silver, but only Korvosa circulates platinum, due to a Byzantine contract signed during the panicked, speculative era after Aroden's death.
Dukes = Gold pieces. Has the gold fist of Abadar on one side and either a galleon (for Korvosa) or a raven (for Magnimar) on the other. They're called dukes either as slang for fist or as a reference to royal bribes. No one really knows.
Beauties or Fingers = Silver pieces. Has the profile of past and current queens (for Korvosa) and the profile of some notable, usually beautiful, woman (for Magnimar). These coins betray a sort of beauty pageant rivalry between the two cities. Both coins feature galleons on the reverse side. Some regions call them fingers because there are ten to a gold.
Sparks = Copper pieces. Pressed with an anvil on one side and stylized flames on the other. Minted almost exclusively in Janderhoff and traded in large, almost unnecessary volume. A common sentiment is that the dwarves of Janderhoff cannot bear to part with gold and silver and return copper in kind.
That’s what I’m using for the time being anyway.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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I've already kind of named them in my campaign. I created an organization, a branch of the church of Abadar, called The Bursers of the First Vault. They maintain the mints in Korvosa and Magnimar at the King and Lord-Mayor's pleasure, but neither would publicly censure them for fear of economic instability. Most wealthy Chelaxians claim to trust in the provenance of Abadar's wisdom, at least publicly. Both cities mint gold and silver, but only Korvosa circulates platinum, due to a Byzantine contract signed during the panicked, speculative era after Aroden's death.
Dukes = Gold pieces. Has the gold fist of Abadar on one side and either a galleon (for Korvosa) or a raven (for Magnimar) on the other. They're called dukes either as slang for fist or as a reference to royal bribes. No one really knows.
Beauties or Fingers = Silver pieces. Has the profile of past and current queens (for Korvosa) and the profile of some notable, usually beautiful, woman (for Magnimar). These coins betray a sort of beauty pageant rivalry between the two cities. Both coins feature galleons on the reverse side. Some regions call them fingers because there are ten to a gold.
Sparks = Copper pieces. Pressed with an anvil on one side and stylized flames on the other. Minted almost exclusively in Janderhoff and traded in large, almost unnecessary volume. A common sentiment is that the dwarves of Janderhoff cannot bear to part with gold and silver and return copper in kind.
That’s what I’m using for the time being anyway.
Love it! Well done Selk.
that is really well done. Kudos
I particularly like the 'fingers' for silvers.
Awesome work Selk!
Thanks for designing the currency for my new campaign.
:-)
And one more Selkism goes into my toolbox.
How's it feel to be working for Paizo for no pay?
I like both sets of names:
dukes, beauties, etc.
and Suns, moons and cheaps.
I wouldn't use fingers yet... it's gross. Maybe in Chelax, if they're really as bad as they're said to be (a culture whose founders used to summon demons? yuck, but why not?)
What about Dwarves? They'd likely have something... I'd say bars shaped to fit a particular size and fit together: easier to stack that coins, and they form bricks. gold, Silver and Copper all form the same sized bricks. However, since they know about mining they weigh whole bricks to test for value. Its efficient, and you don't need magic to test for small amounts; also they fit into storage in bulk, don't jingle when shaken (so they can be hidden more easily).
Nicely done Selk.. Interesting historical tidbits as well.. I wonder if your players appreciate your efforts.. Cuz we do!!
I almost hate to ask but I am curious about the "and beyond" part of the title now. Surely our adventurers will eventually dig up some coinage from the previous empires.
Did King Xin have his own coinage he had minted?
Did the seven runlords have their own as well?
Mostly I'm hoping somebody will work out cool designs so that I can steal them and take all the credit. :-)
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I almost hate to ask but I am curious about the "and beyond" part of the title now. Surely our adventurers will eventually dig up some coinage from the previous empires.
Did King Xin have his own coinage he had minted?
Did the seven runlords have their own as well?Mostly I'm hoping somebody will work out cool designs so that I can steal them and take all the credit. :-)
You know, I think Thassilon would stand a good chance of having paper money. With Xin's magic being in the written word, government issued notes would have amazing veracity. A Xin-blessed print plate could make a note warded vs. forgery, rot and loss. That'd be damn funny too, "You open the chest and find...a pile magically preserved banknotes from a dead empire!"
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You know, I think Thassilon would stand a good chance of having paper money. With Xin's magic being in the written word, government issued notes would have amazing veracity. A Xin-blessed print plate could make a note warded vs. forgery, rot and loss. That'd be damn funny too, "You open the chest and find...a pile magically preserved banknotes from a dead empire!"
In Zir'an (a pulpy, non-d20 campaign world) they use "Flats" for currency. Flats are magically minted, thin metal sheets that you tap and they make their own change. Tap a 10, it magically divides into 2 5's, tap a 5 and it becomes 5 1's. (Not unheard of in the real world. "Pieces of eight" comes from Spanish dollars that were literally cut into 8 pieces, or bits, to make change. That's why people used to call quarters "2 bits.") Magic money is cool.
The whole now-worthless ancient money thing really would drive home how far the world has slipped from its peak, if that is indeed what has happened.
You know, I think Thassilon would stand a good chance of having paper money. With Xin's magic being in the written word, government issued notes would have amazing veracity. A Xin-blessed print plate could make a note warded vs. forgery, rot and loss. That'd be damn funny too, "You open the chest and find...a pile magically preserved banknotes from a dead empire!"That would be funny but The Portal of Greed(E5) on level two of the Thistletop Dungeon requires gold coins to open it. And the door itself appears to be a stack of gold coins. Apparently some of the runelords still believed in the use of coins.
Burnt Offerings spoilers, not that you haven't seen the information in this thread already...
That would be funny but The Portal of Greed (E5) on level two of the Thistletop Dungeon requires gold coins to open it. And the door itself appears to be a stack of gold coins. Apparently some of the runelords still believed in the use of coins.
The Thassalonian Empire could have gone to paper currency, backed by gold, allowing both to show up in adventures. Even after the adoption of paper currency, individual runelords might have retained their own currencies, as a way to keep control of their area's economies.
A mixed system, using paper supported by gold, would also have made the Portal of Greed more difficult for the ancient Thassalonians to pass, as they might not habitually carry gold coins.
There's not any names for coins in Pathfinder... yet.
Is there any update on this quandry now? I understand Magnimar holds different currencies to Riddleport and Korvosa but being an idle git I find it hard work making up names and descriptions of the currency my players keep finding...
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Creative Director
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There's not any names for coins in Pathfinder... yet.Is there any update on this quandry now? I understand Magnimar holds different currencies to Riddleport and Korvosa but being an idle git I find it hard work making up names and descriptions of the currency my players keep finding...
No update, really, and I'm not certain it's a quandary. If your players really do enjoy knowing the names of coins they find, then I suspect you've got yourself a relatively unusual batch of players. I'd suggest a variant of what my buddy Jason Nelson did to solve the problem of coming up with NPC names on the fly; take a sheet of paper and whenever you think of a good name (or in this case, four names for four coin types), write it down on that paper. When you use a name (or a set of coin names) make a note nearby where that name is used and then circle the names or otherwise indicate they're "used." And in any session in which you use a batch of names, make sure that you replace that used batch with at least two new batches by the next game.
Presto! Endless coin names! :)
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i have thebad custom as player and DM to call my GPs 'crowns' even if the DM doesn't :P
once i thougt about names for the other coins... but i had forgotten them
now that i will begin a new campaign i think it would be sueful for characters to find different coins...
any intel on how this works in Absalom? would the authorities have currency houses to change your coins for the coins of Absalom? legal notes to pay for?
or you can find shops who will receive all kind of currency and give you change in the same way?
I remember a Veluna Scenario "Butterfly effect" I think where an NPC was stockaded for carrying a enemy nations coins. That could be kinda fun for adding role playing challenges.
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Here's a chart of what I used in my old game.
pdf Chart
My co-GM and I came up with it. He has the currency exchange chart...
For groups that are not into immersion, I call them
copper commons
silver nobles
gold royals.
For groups that are up for it, I use
twenty pennies to a crown. twelve crowns to a mark. thirteen crowns for a fuller's mark. eleven crowns to a worn mark.
ten marks to a royal.
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Module LB1 (Tower of the Last Baron) mentions silver coins as "silver crowns" (p.11, 11. The Conqueror's Blade, 2nd paragraph).
Besides, I think, it's only natural to think of proper names for different coinage, just like in real world.
Looked at it from a historically viewpoint, it is an appropriate way to differ from other kingdoms/nations, and an impressive form for rulers around the world to get their face/symbols/beliefs to spread around the country/world.
I made up some names for currency in my last campaign. Maybe they are compatible with some nations in your campaign.
Bandits:
Lump
Cheroot
Conk
Turd
Ancient:
Platinum Ring
Gold Crown
Silver Shield
Copper Fringe
Greek:
Dragos
Xrisos
Arguros
Xalkos
Paladin:
Eagle
Crown
Dragon
Moon
Nordic:
White Raven
Gold Raven
Silver Raven
Yellow Raven
Hell:
Wing
Talon
Sting
Tail
Mercantile:
Dragon
Pegasus
Hippogriff
Hydra
Germanic:
King's Thaler
Double Eagle
Silver Mark
Groat
Saxon:
Pound
Tenshilling
Shilling
Penny
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I predict an "Economy of Golarion" book in the next batch of announcements. With the current state of affairs in the real world, I think it'd be a big seller.
Thread necromancy go!
I would really love an Economics of Golarion book, but that might just be me.
In my game, I'm trying to run a more complex international currency system than just the default universal gold/silver/copper. I was inspired after I watched Spice and Wolf. The names for each national currency would be good flavor for Golarion, as would knowing standard exchange rates.
The ISWG (page 153) does now have some standard coin names for Cheliax, Andoran, Katapesh, Absalom and Brevoy. Other than that, it's all just gp and sp and so on, all the same.
I'd expect the more impoverished places like Isger and Galt to debase their currency, whereas Druma or Katapesh coins would be regarded as pretty much pure and accepted everywhere.