all that glitters,,...

[ForceUser]

That's why in my OA campaign, the silver tael is the standard of currency, not the gold piece. The gold supply is largely controlled by the aristocracy and the wealthiest merchants, and a player character will own a writ worth "X" silver coins (a traveler's cheque, if you will) before they'll own any gold coins. Just makes more sense to me, especially in light of this new bit of data.

 

[alsih2o]

Re: Hey, these gold coins are filled with chocolate...

[B
I doubt the coins of the realm are *solid* gold, what's the usual/average of gold to other metals in gold coins of the Middle Ages? That will probably allow for a *lot* more coins! *laugh* [/B]

i tried some research on this and got bupkus....but a friend of mine points out that usually they were not "thinned" out, or mixed,(and also rarely used for commerce) but rather really pure.

i am far from a numis,..mu, numismatistist....coin guy

now, if you wanna talk about old pots.....

 

[Tiefling]

I was under the impression that gold coins were about 10% tin to make them stiffer. I've forgotten where I read/heard that, but it comes to mind.

 

[mmadsen]

Re: Hey, these gold coins are filled with chocolate...

I doubt the coins of the realm are *solid* gold, what's the usual/average of gold to other metals in gold coins of the Middle Ages?

In medieval Europe, the typical coin had no gold in it; it was silver. In the Middle East they regularly used gold coins though.

 

[tarchon]

http://www.doaks.org/CoinExhibition/History/History1Main.html

Most historical gold coinages seem to have been fairly pure and stable, though I did find a mention of a fractional byzantine coin (1/3 hyperpyron) that used silver to fill out the coin for a 1:2 gold/silver ratio. Silver coinages rarely lasted for more than a century without getting substantially debased though. I've read that in the late Roman empire it was at times only legal to pay taxes in gold, as the government was unwilling to accept its own "silver" as payment.

 

[shurai]

When I figured out the height of the D&D gold coin, using that picture in the PHB, I was really annoyed. It comes to 0.664 mm thick. If it's a gold coin about 3 cm diameter(as the 'actual size' picture in the PHB suggests), I'm pretty sure that's too thin to sustain its own shape if you held it between two fingers.

-S

edit: changed 'around' to 'diameter'. Just want to avoid confusion.

 

[Crothian]

Minted coins are the way to go.

 

[Tiefling]

Making some quick calculations with those measurements (15*15*3.14*0.664) that comes out to approximately 470 cubic millimeters of gold. Can someone tell me how much 470 cubic millimeters of gold weighs? Lets make it pure gold for simplicity's sake. Does it weigh 1/50th of a pound?

Edit: changed 47 to 470.

Edit 2: Calculating it with the 62 feet cubed = 250,000,000 pounds figure, I get approximately 1/20th of a pound for that. I think I calculated correctly, but I'm not sure.

 

[tarchon]

Making some quick calculations with those measurements (15*15*3.14*0.664) that comes out to approximately 470 cubic millimeters of gold. Can someone tell me how much 470 cubic millimeters of gold weighs? Lets make it pure gold for simplicity's sake. Does it weigh 1/50th of a pound?

Edit: changed 47 to 470.

Edit 2: Calculating it with the 62 feet cubed = 250,000,000 pounds figure, I get approximately 1/20th of a pound for that. I think I calculated correctly, but I'm not sure.

470 mm^3 is .47 CCs. Gold has a spec. grav. of 18.88, so its weight is .47*19 g or about 10 g= .01 kg. There are 2.2 lbs in a kg so weight = 0.02 lbs, or about 1/50 of a pound.

 

[tarchon]

When I figured out the height of the D&D gold coin, using that picture in the PHB, I was really annoyed. It comes to 0.664 mm thick. If it's a gold coin about 3 cm diameter(as the 'actual size' picture in the PHB suggests), I'm pretty sure that's too thin to sustain its own shape if you held it between two fingers.

Well, in real life gold coins spent most of their time sitting in chests and buried under flagstones, so durability was never much of an issue. I sort of collect ancient coins and I don't think I've ever seen gold coins with any significant circulation wear on them - not that I ever buy gold, but I do look.