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

[Zardnaar]

Well 1 gp is generally 10 sp. D&D isn't remotely realistic. I know gold is worth more than that. So I checked spot prices.

Unless Google lied to me it's closer to 75 to 1. 1sp is closer to a cp IRL

Never really thought about it. Never really paid much attention to it. If you can afford a D&D book you can get some silver.

 

[Muso]

Are you serious?

 

[Morrus]

Well 1 gp is generally 10 sp. D&D isn't remotely realistic. I know gold is worth more than that. So I checked spot prices.

Unless Google lied to me it's closer to 75 to 1. 1sp is closer to a cp IRL

On Earth.

 

[Jolly Ruby]

On Earth.

And in the present.

 

[mellored]

There used to be an official 15:1 standard back in the 1700's.

And it currently mined at a 9:1 ratio.

It is the gold speculators drive up the price. There are all those late night TV ads telling people to buy gold, as well as gold for jewelry, stories of fort knox and Dragons hordes being full of gold, but none do that for silver. (Also, electronics use gold, which didn't exist back then)

So just assume market manipulation isn't a big thing in D&D and that Silverware, silver bullets, silver mirrors are still in use.

 

[pemerton]

My understanding is that the ratio of value of gold to silver was less extreme in the mediaeval period, and that silver has become easier to mine using more contemporary industrial techniques.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

In D&D, silver is a lot more expensive than on Earth, because there is a constant demand for powdered silver to create holy water. This consumes the silver, taking it off the market permanently.

It's basic economics, really.

 

[Oofta]

If people ever ask about the fact that we use GP as standard instead of SP which would be more historically accurate I have the following reasons. A gold piece is dime size, not a massive doubloon. Dwarves are really good at mining and extracting gold. Alchemy works and people have figured out how to transmute one metal into another, it's just not free. Every once in a while someone uses powerful magic to create a huge amount of gold, flooding the market.

Last, but not least, it's not the real world and is using modern metrics is pointless.

 

[ezo]

Well 1 gp is generally 10 sp. D&D isn't remotely realistic. I know gold is worth more than that. So I checked spot prices.

Unless Google lied to me it's closer to 75 to 1. 1sp is closer to a cp IRL

Never really thought about it. Never really paid much attention to it. If you can afford a D&D book you can get some silver.

While I can appreciate the humour in this as a serious discussion is rather pointless, why not have some fun?

So, it is whatever you want it to be in D&D for several reasons (many already cited) but I'll add that the value of gold to silver to any precious metal depends on location and availability.

Historically, for instance, (on Earth ) Egyptians prized silver more highly that gold because silver desposit were considerably rarer in the regions they traveled and occupied. In gold rush boom towns, where gold was common (enough anyway), it had less value locally than food comparitively.

In a more detailed D&D game world, the value would change from region to region, anyway.

 

[pukunui]

The way I see it, the D&D monetary system is essentially based on the American monetary system, insofar as:

If 1 gp = $1, then 1 sp = 1 dime (which is silvery) and 1 cp = 1 penny (which is coppery).

1 ep is like a 50 cent coin, while 1 pp is essentially a $10 coin.

NB. I’m not talking about buying power so much as the breakdown of / relationship between the coins.