D&D 5E D&D Lied To Me. Gp vs Sp

[LordBP]

I don't know if it's an easy task trying to pin down the value of gold in the past let alone in a fantasy world. A standard gold coin in D&D weighs approximately .02 pounds or close to 9 grams. A gold coin isn't going to be 100% gold, so I'm not sure how much of that 9 grams is actually a gold. A double eagle $20 gold coin minted in the United States in 1849 weighed about 33 grams of which 90% of was gold. A British gold guinea was 8.35 grams though I don't know how much of that was actually gold.

In 1194, King Richard's ransom was 150,000 marks which was 25,500 kg of silver. In D&D terms, that would make 1,275,000 gold pieces a literal king's ransom. If I'm doing my math right, and it's early so there's a good chance I'm not, that's roughly 141 kilograms of gold or 310 moon landing units. At the time the ransom was paid, this was two or three times the amount the Crown made annually. (According to Wikipedia, it was 100,000 pounds of silver but I'm not sure if that's pure silver or how much 150,000 marks would weight. Most sources I see online say 25,500 kg of silver.)

There have been plenty of D&D articles over the years about coins and how to customize them for your campaign. I find it's simply much easier to say gold piece to a player rather than giving it a cute name they likely won't remember. It's also a pain in the rear to try to keep track of different values of gold coins produced by different nations. Ultimately D&D is a game of high adventure and keeping track of some of this stuff just isn't high adventure.

Below is a chart I put together from historical sources on coinage in England from late 1100s to late 1400s.

The weights are in grams and the sizes are in mm.

Year​	Name​	Weight​	Pure Silver​	Pure gold​	Pence​	Ratio​	Coins/LB​	Diam​	Thick​
1158​	Penny​	1.458​	1.349​	​	​	​	311.11​	15.00​	0.73​
1344​	Penny​	1.312​	1.214​	​	​	​	345.73​	​	​
1344​	Gold Double Leopard​	6.998​	​	6.962​	72​	12.55​	64.82​	​	​
1344​	Gold Noble​	​	​	​	80​	​	​	34.00​	​
​	Gold Half Noble​	​	​	​	40​	​	​	25.50​	​
​	Gold Quarter Noble​	​	​	​	20​	​	​	20.00​	​
1346​	Gold Noble​	​	​	​	80​	​	​	34.00​	​
​	Gold Half Noble​	​	​	​	40​	​	​	25.50​	​
​	Gold Quarter Noble​	​	​	​	20​	​	​	20.00​	​
1351​	Penny​	1.200​	1.110​	​	​	​	377.99​	​	​
1351​	Gold Noble​	7.776​	​	7.736​	80​	11.48​	58.33​	34.00​	0.81​
​	Gold Half Noble​	​	​	​	40​	​	​	25.50​	​
​	Gold Quarter Noble​	​	​	​	20​	​	​	20.00​	​
1412​	Penny​	0.972​	0.899​	​	​	​	466.67​	​	​
1412​	Gold Half Noble​	3.499​	​	3.481​	40​	10.33​	129.63​	​	​
​	Gold Quarter Noble​	​	​	​	20​	​	​	​	​
1464​	Penny​	0.777​	0.719​	​	​	​	583.55​	​	​
1464​	Gold Half Angel​	2.591​	​	2.578​	40​	11.16​	175.03​	​	​

Below is a chart of US coinage as a basis on size/thickness.

90/10​	Grams​	Diameter​	Thickness​
Dime​	2.5​	17.91​	1.35​
Quarter​	6.25​	24.26​	1.75​
Half Dollar​	12.5​	30.61​	2.15​
Dollar​	26.73​	38.1​	2.4​

 

[Shiroiken]

There's also purity of the metal in the coins to be considered.

Sadly, by RAW 5E assumes 100% purity in its coins. The cost/weight ratio is the same for coins as it is for bars.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

By that logic, shouldn't diamonds be worth a lot more in D&D given all the need for diamond dust?

Except that Diamonds are Dirt Common in the Universe. They're just pretty.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

One things I've done for years and years is to convert found-treasure in adventures (including gems, coins, and certain art objects) into a total GP and usually just say "You find 2434.4 gp in various coins and gems and the like". It eases up treasure-splitting, but also IMO adds (rather than subtracts) from immersion, in that if anyone wants to look closer at their purses, they will find a wide variety of mints, eras, coins, cut gems, etc in a variety of shapes, styles, forms, and functions. Sure, we mostly gloss over it as an abstraction, but every now and then it comes up as some clever little fluff. I figure that D&D worlds would have very messy economies, in particular when Adventurers come to town with their hundreds-of-years-old coins from forgotten nations found in some long lost oubliette.

 

[Oofta]

Except that Diamonds are Dirt Common in the Universe. They're just pretty.

Diamonds are expensive today because De Beers has a monopoly that controls the price and they pushed the "tradition" of diamonds for wedding rings starting in the 1930s. Diamond rings for engagements have been around since the 15th century but it was by no means common until the 1940s when advertising pushed the idea that diamonds are forever and the only way to show true love.

Ah, the glory of advertising.

 

[Storyteller Hero]

By that logic, shouldn't diamonds be worth a lot more in D&D given all the need for diamond dust?

Low quality diamonds with small sizes and/or imperfections are common in real life, and quite possibly in DnD as well.

As such diamond dust would be cheap while large diamonds cut to perfection would still not be cheap. Whole diamonds used in spells also might not be as large as one might imagine.

 

[mellored]

By that logic, shouldn't diamonds be worth a lot more in D&D given all the need for diamond dust?

You need a "diamond worth 300gp", not "diamond weighing 3oz".

So the size of the diamond is adjusted based market value. If diamonds are rare, then you just need a speck. If they are common, you need a big one.

Not sure why magic works like that, but it does.

And kind of makes me want to have a Bard marketing diamonds in order to increase their value so he can resurrect an ally with the tiny one he has.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

And kind of makes me want to have a Bard marketing diamonds in order to increase their value so he can resurrect an ally with the tiny one he has.

Gotta name that Bard "De Beers"! Or, this being D&D, "Ed Sreeb".

 

[GMMichael]

1gp is a venti Starbucks and a donut.

Well, that's disappointing!

Historically, the ratio was usually between 11-13 silver to 1 gold.

Indeed. D&D either rounds for convenience, or keeps the unspoken margin because, you know, D&D class warfare.

I like how it seems to be granted in this thread that Google is trustworthy...

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

By that logic, shouldn't diamonds be worth a lot more in D&D given all the need for diamond dust?

Quite likely. We don't know what quantity "diamond dust worth 100gp" actually is, it's probably a tiny amount.