Interresting thing about medieval coins I just read

[med stud]

Im reading a book about Swedish history between 1200-1300 (really good book written by Dick Harrison; I recommend it for everyone here who can read Swedish) and read about how big the coins of the time were.

The coins from Gotland weighed 0,15 grams while the coins from Östergötland weighed 0,30 grams. If these sizes were true for the continent as well it means that the D&D coin weights are way off if you are interrested in authentic coin sizes.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Yeah, D&D coins assume that they are filled with some kind of super-helium. I've also noticed that D&D coins have a habit of shrinking whenever they are placed in a coin pouch. Or so it would seem from the way my players act.

Good info though, thanks!

 

[SinisterMinister]

Yeah, D&D coins assume that they are filled with some kind of super-helium. I've also noticed that D&D coins have a habit of shrinking whenever they are placed in a coin pouch. Or so it would seem from the way my players act.

Good info though, thanks!

I had always assumed that all first-level characters were supplied with a portable hole. How else to explain how easily people can carry around 150 gp, 250 sp, 324 cp, 5 gems worth 50 gp, 2 gems worth 10 gp, 100 feet of rope, camping gear, a week's supply of food and water, etc.?

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Yeah, D&D coins assume that they are filled with some kind of super-helium.

Not according to this data. If we take the higher value (0.30g), and compare it to the book weight (50 coins=1 lb), we find that the numbers work out on the lighter side. 50 coins at .3g each = 15g. 15g=0.015kg. 0.015kg=0.033lbs. This means that you would need 15120 Swedish coins to make a pound.

Now, there are two types of gold coins in the world. There's the kind that you see in museums that are so thin that you have a raised relief on one side and an inverse relief on the other. And there are the doubloon kind that are kind of thick in order to make it easier to exchange large sums with few coins. I assume the Swedish coins mentioned are the former, and D&D coins are intended to be the latter.

 

[Aaron2]

The coins from Gotland weighed 0,15 grams while the coins from Östergötland weighed 0,30 grams. If these sizes were true for the continent as well it means that the D&D coin weights are way off if you are interrested in authentic coin sizes.

A coin weighing 1/3 of a gram would be super dinky. I'm assuming the D&D gold piece is the main coin while there are various smaller coins to represent change. Since D&D uses a multi-metal coinage system (which, AFAIK, wasn't very common historically), the lesser metals takes the place of the smaller coins.

A 1/50th a pound, D&D coins are farily reasonable with historic coins I'm familiar with. Of course, I'm more familiar with ancient than medieval stuff.


Aaron

 

[Dogbrain]

The following is taken from the original Coinage Act for the United States of America, which established both our basic system of currency and our first Constitutional currency:

Coin             Value     Per lb.  Diameter   Per Foot Stack
half cent         0.005      53      59/64         137
cent              0.01       26    1  9/64         105
half disme        0.05      336      42/64         503
disme             0.1       168      48/64         337
quarter dollar    0.25       67    1  5/64         277
half dollar       0.2        33    1 18/64         195
dollar            1          16    1 36/64         144
quarter eagle     2.5       103      52/64         429
half eagle        5          51      63/64         316
eagle            10          25    1 19/64         273

Half cents and cents are copper. All "eagle" coins are gold. The rest are silver. None of the silver or gold coins are pure. The value ratio of pure silver to pure gold in the coin system is 1:15, which is higher than the medieval silver:gold ratio of 1:12. Diameters are in inches and are estimated based on extant artifacts. Thicknesses are calculated estimates from mass, diameter, and SG.

 

[Dogbrain]

Since D&D uses a multi-metal coinage system (which, AFAIK, wasn't very common historically), the lesser metals takes the place of the smaller coins.

The Romans used bronze, silver, and gold coinage.
All their cultural successors (aka all of Europe, all the Arab states, all of North Africa, all the eastern Mediterranean, all of Russia--including all of Siberia when coinage was available) used multi-metal coinage systems. The dominant metal was almost always silver, of course.

 

[med stud]

Well I suppose that the copper coins were bigger when they entered the stage. These coins were the first coins to be minted in Sweden (that we know of) and they were made of silver.

Later on Sweden actually had the biggest coins that have existed. They were made of copper and weighed, if Im not wrong, tens of kilos. This might have to do with the fact that Sweden had lots of copper; 75 % of all cannons in Europe during the 17th century were made of Swedish copper. Maybe the metal was worth less here than in the rest of Europe because of that.

 

[green slime]

Im reading a book about Swedish history between 1200-1300 (really good book written by Dick Harrison; I recommend it for everyone here who can read Swedish) ...

... waits for title of aformentioned book with abaited breath...

 

[Aaron2]

The Romans used bronze, silver, and gold coinage.
All their cultural successors (aka all of Europe, all the Arab states, all of North Africa, all the eastern Mediterranean, all of Russia--including all of Siberia when coinage was available) used multi-metal coinage systems. The dominant metal was almost always silver, of course.

In D&D there is no silver coin worth 1/10 of a silver piece. So even if your town is right next to a silver mine, you still have to bring in copper to make coins for small change. Its the same with US coins (assuming for a second that they were made of actual metal), a penny is copper. There is no gold penny or silver penny (at least not anymore). That's what I'm talking about.

I guess you could just assume a "silver piece" is a small gold coin, a silver coin or a large copper coin.


Aaron