Interresting thing about medieval coins I just read

[cignus_pfaccari]

While we only have one "copper coin" we have multiple "silver" coins. Thus, IT IS NOT THE SAME WITH US COINS. We DO have a "silver" coin worth 1/10 the value of another "silver coin".

I rather thought he was referring to how the D&D standard coinage is decimal-based (10 cp = 1 sp = 0.1 gp, etc.), same as most modern monetary systems. Heck, D&D has three types of money, and the U.S. only has two: Dollars and cents (...remember, when getting change, the cashier doesn't say "Three dollars, two dimes, and three pennies", they say "Three dollars and twenty-three cents"!).

It's likely in most settings that there'll be more variations than the three standard coin types, for sheer convenience in day-to-day transactions. After all, who wants to get rid of the dime, nickel, and quarter?

However, I'd conjecture that it's easiest for D&D characters not to have to worry about whether they have 2-sp pieces or 2 sps. It might make for a bit of nice flavor, and be more realistic, but I'm not sure it'd be worth the trouble.

Brad

 

[Aaron2]

Your example was specifically that, in the D&D system, you could not have two denominations of silver coins.

I meant that we don't have silver coins -and- copper coins of the same value. You don't see larger copper quarters for example. Paper money is a step up from silver. The dollar coins that we have seen were meant to replace paper dollars rather than designed to use alongside them. Its easy for us modern types to use all sorts of metals in our coinage so its also easy for us to visualize a game world where change from a silver piece is measured in copper coins rather than smaller silver coins.

Didn't the Spartans use huge iron coins? Very hard to rob.


Aaron

 

[tarchon]

Gold coins rarely circulated much. In our games, we usually put most of the wealth in goods.

 

[tarchon]

I meant that we don't have silver coins -and- copper coins of the same value. You don't see larger copper quarters for example. Paper money is a step up from silver. The dollar coins that we have seen were meant to replace paper dollars rather than designed to use alongside them. Its easy for us modern types to use all sorts of metals in our coinage so its also easy for us to visualize a game world where change from a silver piece is measured in copper coins rather than smaller silver coins.

Most sophisticated coinage systems (Roman, Chinese) had legally fixed ratios for the relative values of coins of different metals, however market forces would often throw them off. Usually, it was pretty hard to maintain any real equivalence between base metal and precious metal coinages. Silver and gold could be maintained at reasonably stable ratios for a while, but those would tend to drift as well. Usually, governments would tend to pay in base coin and tax in precious.

 

[mmadsen]

I think I'm going to base my economic system on the pre 20th century British model.

Sadist!

Interestingly, the pound was originally a unit of account -- one pound of silver -- and not a coin. From the Wikipedia:

History
As a unit of currency, the term pound originates from the value of a pound weight of high purity silver known as sterling silver.

Middle Ages
In Anglo-Saxon times, small silver coins known as sceats were used in trade: these were derived from Frisian examples, and weighed about 20 grains (ca. 1.3g). King Offa of Mercia ca. 790 AD introduced a silver penny of 22.5 grains (ca. 1.5g). 240 of these were made from a measure of silver known as the Tower pound: apparently it nominally weighed 5400 grains or about 349.9g. In 1526 the standard was changed to the troy pound of 5760 grains = 373.242g.

Sterling (with a basic currency unit of the Tealby Penny, rather than the pound) was introduced as the English currency by King Henry II in 1158, though the name Sterling wasn't acquired until later.

Silver coins of greater value were the the groat of 4 pennies, inspired by a French coin (since Edward I), and the shilling of 12 pennies i.e. 20 to the pound (introduced by Henry VII in 1510).

 

[mmadsen]

Gold coins rarely circulated much. In our games, we usually put most of the wealth in goods.

Certainly magical can concentrate a lot of wealth in small, portable item -- but magic items aren't a very liquid asset.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Certainly magical can concentrate a lot of wealth in small, portable item -- but magic items aren't a very liquid asset.

I keep wanting to have some form of currency that can be used directly for item creation...like, it contains one GP worth of magical energy for item creation, or as an expensive spell component.

Brad

 

[Dogbrain]

If you go by actual physical composition, it's

Do you really have no idea what the difference between a silver coin and a "silver" coin is, or are you merely pretending to be so very obtuse?

 

[Dogbrain]

I meant that we don't have silver coins -and- copper coins of the same value.

No culture ever has, as far as I know.

The dollar coins that we have seen were meant to replace paper dollars rather than designed to use alongside them.

I've definitely seen dollar coins (featuring Eisenhower) that were NOT meant to replace paper dollars. They were meant to circulate alongside paper dollar bills. Therefore, you are wrong, once again.

Its easy for us modern types to use all sorts of metals in our coinage so its also easy for us to visualize a game world where change from a silver piece is measured in copper coins rather than smaller silver coins.

At which point, might as well just put the setting in the 21st century.

 

[Dogbrain]

I rather thought he was referring to how the D&D standard coinage is decimal-based (10 cp = 1 sp = 0.1 gp, etc.), same as most modern monetary systems. Heck, D&D has three types of money, and the U.S. only has two: Dollars and cents (...remember, when getting change, the cashier doesn't say "Three dollars, two dimes, and three pennies", they say "Three dollars and twenty-three cents"!).

So? And? Just how does that differ from historical accounting? Indeed, during much of English history, even though purchases were made and recorded in pounds, THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS A POUND COIN!!! The pound was a unit of VALUE not a unit of currency. England also used the "mark" as a unit of money but never had a "mark" coin, as far as I know. Money is not identical to currency.