D&D 5E Coin sizes

[Scott DeWar]

I'm fairly certain that this is how it was until 3E, but my 2E books are in storage so I can't confirm that for sure.
-----EDIT-----
Hmmm, interesting.

IIRR, it was 10 coins per lb for 1 e and 2 e

Scott "The browncoat" DeWar

 

[Scott DeWar]

EDIT -----but it does mean repricing everything off of a silver (or even copper) standard. It does make for a lot less gold carried around.

And in the real world platinum is actually worth slightly less than gold, nickel and tin worth several times copper, etc...

as of today, these are the bid prices:

GOLD 06/05/2015 17:15 1172.30

SILVER 06/05/2015 17:15 16.13

PLATINUM 06/05/2015 17:15 1095.00

with copper at 2.691/ lb and nickel at over 100,000/ m. ton

these prices are in US bucks.

some 9 years ago I made this little chart for the fun of it: [take note I have 1/10 lb for ed 1&2 and 1/50 lb for ed 3.0 and later]

Platinum:
A coin 1.63 in d. and .0625 in thick will weigh 1/10 lb
-

A coin 0.73 in d. and .0625 in thick will weigh 1/50 lb

Ingot 2 x 4 x 8 will weigh 48.85 lbs
Bar 1.25 x 3 x 4 will weigh 11.45 lbs

Gold:
A coin 1.70 in d. and .0625 in thick will weigh 1/10 lb
-

A coin 0.76 in d. and .0625 in thick will weigh 1/50 lb

Ingot 1.5 x 3.5 x 7 will weigh 25.67 lbs
Bar 2 x 2 x 3.5 will weigh 9.78 lbs

Silver:
A coin 2.31 in d. and .0625 in thick will weigh 1/10 lb
-

A coin 1.03 in d. and .0625 in thick will weigh 1/50 lb

Ingot 2 x 3 x 10 will weigh 22.78 lbs
Bar 1.5 x 2 x 5 will weigh 5.69 lbs

Copper:
A coin 2.51 in d. and .0625 in thick will weigh 1/10 lb
-

A coin 1.12 in d. and .0625 in thick will weigh 1/50 lb

Ingot 3 x 2.5 x 10 will weigh 24.21 lbs
Bar 2.5 x 2.5 x 5 will weigh 10.08 lbs


1728 in³ per ft³

^{I based it off of these statistics:}


​

This chart is calculated on atomic weights as compared to 1 ft^3 of lead that I had found or heard or something -maybe when myth busters were doing the "fly like a lead balloon episode"

Metal	Differential	Recipicole	Ton x3 in
Platinum	1.092746	0.91512574	13.78632
Gold	1	1.0	14.2
Silver	.54352	1.83985869	17.40002
Copper	.462176	2.16367790	18.36619
Lead	.58756	1.70195384	16.95395
Iron	.40797	2.45116062	19.14603

Metal	Kg/m3	1 lb=X in3	X in3=1 ton	1 ft 3=X lb	X lb= 1 in 3
Platinum	21090	1.310134	2620.268	1318.9486	0.76328053
Gold	19300	1.431644	2863.288	1207.0039	0.69849767
Silver	10490	2.634022	5268.045	656.03075	0.37964745
Copper	8920	3.097616	6195.232	557.84823	0.32282885
Lead	11340	2.436592	4873.184	709.18721	0.41040929
Iron	7874	3.509189	7018.378	492.42138	0.28496609

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

We can do some extrapolation based on modern values to see what coins would be worth on Earth, what their basic purchasing power might be in game, and what it means for rarity of various metals in D&D. First, Some numbers:

Modern Price by Index

copper: $2.6-2.7 per lb
silver: $16-17 per oz
gold: $1100-1200 per oz
platinum: $1000-1200 per oz

Modern Price Range Per Pound

1 pound = 14.5833 troy oz

copper: $2.60 - $2.70 per lb
silver: $233.33 - $247.91 per lb
gold: $16,041.63 - $17,499.96 per lb
platinum: $14,583.30 - $17,499.96 per lb

Interesting notes: The traditional silver penny was 1/260th of a pound, which is roughly 1 USD. Also, Gold and Platinum have roughly equal values.


From here we can massage the numbers to get a rough idea of what the value is today:

copper:$2.50 per lb, $0.05 per copper piece
silver: $250 per lb, $5 per silver piece
gold: $17,500 per lb, $350 per gold piece
platinum: $17,500 per lb, $350 per platinum piece

Here's what we can surmise from comparing relative D&D coin values to the real world.

In most D&D worlds, copper is ten times more rare than on Earth, and that gold is significantly more common. Platinum, on the other hand, is a little more rare. Thus the dollar value of each coin is this:

CP: $0.50
SP: $5.00
EP: $25.00
GP: $50.00
PP: $500.00

Many things about D&D seems to work well with the idea that gold is more common. Large hoards, for example. Also, electrum pieces are one mechanism to get a useful amount of money between $5 and $50. Alternatives are extra large silver coins, or smaller gold coins.

For coin size, Using what people have posted above, I'm going to go with about 25mm in diameter for all coins, so something around the size of a US quarter. The thicknesses vary.

 

[Staccat0]

I don't like round fantasy coins unless they have holes in them or are "old"

Just personal taste

 

[aramis erak]

I don't like round fantasy coins unless they have holes in them or are "old"

Just personal taste

Almost all historical coins from the middle ages are round - it's the easiest shape to get right by pressing or molding.

Keeping in mind that most coins were stamped if in bronze, brass, silver, or gold. they could either be cut blanks from bar stock or could be poured into blank molds, and then pressed into stamping molds.

Modern US, Canadian, and UK coins (and I suspect Euro, but have not seen documentation for it) are pressed from blanks with molds which are shaped specifically to push the excess toward the rims.

The orient is the exception - many oriental coins are cast with faces, rather than stamped, and its documented that they were poured multi-coin molds.

Non-round coins are rare - they're uncomfortable to pocket and harder to make, and wear unevenly.

 

[S'mon]

The gp/sp/cp values are hard to connect to real-world values since historically the price ratio is much closer to 100 for each step than 10. In fact, right now it looks like gold is 74 times more valuable than silver, which is 86 times more valuable than copper.

Historically before the modern era of central banks holding gold bullion (inflating gold prices) 20:1 for silver:gold was very common. In late 5th century Greece following the influx of Persian gold the ration fell to 10:1, but it had earlier been 20:1 and 20:1 or thereabouts has been more common.

 

[Fralex]

Weird, I could've sworn the dimensions of a coin were described somewhere in the PHB or DMG, but I must be thinking of 4th or 3rd edition.

 

[DDarby-Lewis]

I just wanted to say that the discussion on this board is one of the very helpful sources we took into account when designing coins for our Kickstarter which has just launched.
You can check out the Mythic Mint if you want to find some fantasy coins to use as treasure or just props in our games
Makes me glad to be part of such an awesome, open and knowledgeable community!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/ddarby-lewis/mythic-mint-fantasy-dandd-rpg-and-larp-coins

 

[Coroc]

I use a silver Standard with custom Prices, roughly everything presented to cost x gp in the PHB is rather x sp in my Setting.

Gold is rare and valuable, copper is to minor to be cared about, so mostly the PCs will use / looot / spend sp from Mobs (I attach Fitting random sp coinage to humanoid Mobs, e.g. a Kobold might have 1d6 sp the orc captain 4d20sp)

That makes greater treasure piles a logistic challenge as it should be

 

[Ancalagon]

Historically before the modern era of central banks holding gold bullion (inflating gold prices) 20:1 for silver:gold was very common. In late 5th century Greece following the influx of Persian gold the ration fell to 10:1, but it had earlier been 20:1 and 20:1 or thereabouts has been more common.

This is correct. I've seen values in the 1:12 to 1:15 range in my research. The modern ratio shouldn't be used.