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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Deadguy" data-source="post: 844867" data-attributes="member: 2480">I think one important thing to understand is what a coin represents in pre-modern societies.  In a modern society a coin is a token, a marker for so much value, backed ultimately by the issuing government, that they'll honour it to pay off debt.A pre-modern coin is an actual piece of valuable material. The name or arms stamped onto the coin are a guarantee as to the quality of the metal that the coin is made of. Not that all coins were made of the same alloys (pure metals were rarely used since neither silver nor gold wear well in use). But if people (read moneychangers and international merchants) know that King Louis' coins are only four-fifths silver, and Bishop Odo's coins of the same weight are nine-tenths silver, then oddly enough they value the Bishop's coins more. Effectively, you are still dealing with bullion, it's just a shorthand method of knowing how much bullion was in each coin.The net effect is that coins are international, at least coins issued by respected mints. Unless local or national rules apply, then in offering you coins to buy something, I am simply offering you a certain amount of bullion in return for that item. It matters not what coins I use, so long as you know just how much bullion is involved.Using this in game, you can make coins from different regions have different values. If you keep a virtual gold piece value system as a backdrop, then people might find that the Bageran issued silver mark is worth 2gp, whilst those tiny silver grosschen that Count Armore rewarded you with are in fact only worth 5cp! In my own game I have a number of respected international currencies, which adventurers often deal in, and a great many local coinages. Away from their own territory these local coins are worth only 80% of their normal value, since they are assumed to be less pure by local traders! It adds an extra complication but it does mean that PCs actually plan long journeys, transferring coinage into interntionally-recognised values, even if it costs them money!By the way, being tied to a bullion system has another peculiar effect. As a sovereign nation you still don't have control over the value of your coinage since the value of bullion versus other items shifts as more or less silver/gold is mined, and as bullion comes in from other areas or is siphoned off elsewhere. This means that you are subject to peculiar inflationary pressures which, lacking a sound economic theory, must look like the work of the devil! ("what do you mean that this loaf of bread know costs 3cp! When I was a lad it was only 2cp! You are a gouging bully!") Indeed the later Roman Empire was deeply concerned since huge amounts of Imperial silver were being sent to the lands of the East to buy luxury goods like silk and especially spices, and tried to limit citizens' use of spices!It isn't easy to answer the question what's the ratio of value between silver and gold. It varied over time and location, but it can be pinned down. For your own campaign, you might set it as you please (though 20 to 25 to 1 seems realistic).Hoping this helps rather than confuses! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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