Did anyone make up some names for the Sasserine coinage? I'm out of ideas right now. :)
Did anyone make up some names for the Sasserine coinage? I'm out of ideas right now. :)
I know someone, maybe you, asked about this before, but I don’t recall anything coming of it. In our campaign setting, we have assumed that terms like “gold piece” and “silver piece” are terms that are used commonly as the values of coins made from those metals are fairly universal, regardless of where they are minted. Different regions might have different names (one region in our game uses “denar, sheckle, etc.”), but if you say “gold piece,” it mean the same approximate value to just about anyone.
I guess if I had to come up with denominations for money in Sasserine, I would draw inspiration from the pirate genre. When one thinks of pirates (e.g. “of the Caribbean”) and coins, at least in the U.S., people think ‘doubloon.’ That term comes from Spanish dablón which means “double” – in this case two escudos or 32 reales.
So, maybe 1 “doubloon” is 1 gold piece which equals 10 “escadoons” (silver pieces) or 100 “rheals” (copper pieces). Rarely would you ever find a ten gold piece “decoubloon” (platinum piece).
Just a thought, off the top of my head.
Dubloons sound like a good start, thanks, maybe I can get something off of that. :)
So, maybe 1 “doubloon” is 1 gold piece which equals 10 “escadoons” (silver pieces) or 100 “rheals” (copper pieces).The more piratey conversion seems to be:
Gold: Doubloons
Silver: Pieces of eight
Copper: RealesSee this article
Ooh, I like! But "Pieces of eight" might be confusing since it's 10 coppers to a silver. Of course, "Pieces of ten" doesn't have the same ring. Then again, you might have some BS explanation for it - maybe 1 silver used to equal 8 something else that isn't used anymore (like an electrum piece...)
Or the silver coins might have the number eight stamped on them for some reason - possibly actually being an eternity symbol, but misinterpreted by common folk as being the number eight - and so everyone calls them "pieces of eight".
"Pieces of eight" might be confusing since it's 10 coppers to a silver. Of course, "Pieces of ten" doesn't have the same ring. Then again, you might have some BS explanation for itYeah... I was thinking the exact same thing. It could be that while the Mercanes have been instrumental in instituting a (multi-planar) decimal currency standard, in some areas the old names have none-the-less stuck.
Having good fluff ready for anyone asking "why" makes the world come alive.
Incidentally, the reason that a US quarter was until recently called "two bits" was because of the piece of eight. Our (decimal) US dollar is actually a direct descendant of the piece of eight.
Another fun note: our use of the term "buck" (as used to refer to a dollar) originates with the fur trade.
Okay, smart guy! Why is a five dollar note called a "fin"? :p
Historically the doubloons were actually broken into pieces (halves and quarters and even eights). Hence the reference to pieces of eight. The value of the doubloon was dependent on the weight of the coin. There was also a double-weight coin which was called a double doubloon.
The problem with this system is that it is not a decimal system and is therefore difficult to use in D&D.
I am DM-ing Savage Tide in my own campaign setting and have invented coin names for different countries. The ones used in Sasserine (which has a different name in my campaign) are like this (translated from Dutch):
Platinum: crown
Gold: ducat
Silver: florin
Copper: cent
Please feel free to use them.
Why is a five dollar note called a "fin"? :pIt comes from "finf", which is yiddish for five.
Okay, you just Googled that. ;p
You know, I don’t like to re-invent the wheel any more than necessary, so I try to use stuff that already exists. For example, I use Tolkien whenever possible for language work in my game (elvish especially).
This may not help you, but it may inspire.
So, in Elvish, gold is “malda,” silver is “celeb,” copper is “aira.” I believe this refers to colors, as “mighril,” the metal, translates literally as “grey glitter” (gray – mith, glitter – ril). So I speculate that “maldaril” would be metallic gold, “calebril” would be silver, and “airaril” would be copper. I don’t think there is a word for platinum, but I would guess “nimril” (white-glitter).
Of course, the coinage of Gondor had four “canath” (silver coins) equaling one “mirian.” I presume that’s like saying “quarter” and “dollar.”
Again, this is less direct advise and more inspirational. I think you’re really on to something with the doubloon and such. However, I may just have outlined a terminology for the Elvin monetary system in my game.
Note though that the doubloons (gold) and Pieces of Eight (Silver) were two different coins.
Yes, but they were also cut into 2, 4 or 8 pieces, hence the name. So it was not a decimal system either.
What section is Sasserine in?
Sasserine is on the Jeklea Bay south coast. It used to be part of the Hold of the Sea Princes until "recently".
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What section is Sasserine in?Sasserine is on the Jeklea Bay south coast. It used to be part of the Hold of the Sea Princes until "recently".
I would assume that Sasserine being a port city probably sees a variety of currencies from around the Oerth. However since it was recently apart of the Hold of the Sea Princes that the majority of coinage would be from there. This is assuming your using the World of Greyhawk as you campaign setting. So according to the Living Greyhawk Gazetter that would be:
(PP)Highlord
(GP)Gold Admiral
(SP)Silver
(CP)Common
Also listed is the 3e discontinued electrum piece known as a Bright Ship.