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I must've missed this become some kind of canon currency since everyone and their mother use the term. Why would Cordor have its own currency and why would it be universal across Amia? Can't we just stick to "golden coins"? Trying to avoid NWN mechanic terms is dandy but having a "Crowns" currency IRL makes it feel so awkward.

I somewhat agree. Especially as Cordor has move away from an Autocratic Government I think they would have changed the currency. You know, so you don't have Monty looking up at you when you buy stuff.

You would also have more than one over roughly equivalent currencies on the isle which are taken at face value depending on their weight and materials. I would say that perhaps Cordor, Kohlingen and perhaps Tarkuul and Winya would mint their own coinage, and the smaller towns would use the currency of the Larger cities.

And I assume Cordor would have its own currency as its own autonomous state, much like Kohlingen would.

I believe that winya might use the name that Myth drannor once used, not sure though. But yea, I believe the cities would make coins or at least call them somthing diffrent.

also here is what the FRCS says on coiniage

Forgotten Realms Campign Setting wrote:

Coinage

Barter and sworn "I owe you" declarations may suffice for trade on the frontier, but portable wealth in the form of hard currency is mandatory for any kind of stable exchange over long distances and strange lands. While barter, blood notes, and similar "letters of trade" are common enough in Faerun, metal coins and trade bars are the everyday currency of trade.

Like the base line economy detailed in chapter 6 of the Dungeon Master's guide, Faerun's economy works on the silver and gold standard. Other metals, including copper and platinum, are used in specific nations and cities, but silver and gold coins are accepted throughout most of the trading communities no matter which kingdom, city state, or elder race stamped them. Paper currency is almost unknown, though Cormyr, Sembia, and Archendale recognize IOU notes signed in the blood of the parties to contract and affixed with the seal of a royal agenda appointed to watch over trade.

coins come in a bewildering variety of shapes, sizes, and materials. They're minted here, there, and everywhere- though most countries simply use whatever coinage passes by. Except in special situations where a local coin or taken may have an un varying, artificial supported worth, coins are valued for the metal they're made of not age, rarity or whose face they bear. For this reason platinum pieces minted only in a few lands and regarded with suspicion in many places, have fallen out of favor. Nonetheless, they remain in circulation.

A coin's value is expressed firmly in terms of how it relates to a gold piece- a "standard" gold coin, circular and un pierced about an eight inch thick and an inch and a quarter across. "shaved" coins, deliberately cut or worn thinner, are worth less. The current standard is: 10 coppers =1 silver; 10 silvers or 100 coppers =1 gold; 10 gold = 1 platinum.

Common Coinage

Thanks to the ambitious traders of Sembia, its oddly shaped coins can be found everywhere throughout Faerun. Many other human nations and city-states mint their own coins. Few achive widespread distribution, but nearly all are accepted by everyone except those looking to pick a fight with a stranger.

In water deep, the bustling cosmopolitan center of trade, coppers are called nibs, silvers are shards, gold pieces are dragons, and platinum coins are suns. The city's two local coins are the toal and the harbor moon. The toal is a square brass trading coin pierced with a central hole to permit it to be easily strung on a ring or rope, worth 2 gp in the city and nothing outside Waterdeep. The harbor moon is a flat crescent of platinum with a central hole and an electrum inlay, worth 50 gp in waterdeep and 30 GP elsewhere.

Iron steel pence replace copper coins in rich bustling Sembia. Silvers are ravens, gold pieces are nobles, and platinum coins are unknown. All coinage is accepted in Sembia(including copper pieces from elsewhere.) sembian minted coins are square if they're iron, triangular if silver, and five sided if gold.

In cormyr, coppers are called thumbs, silvers are silver falcons, gold pieces are golden lions, and platinum coins are tricrowns. In southern lands, coppers are bits, silvers are dirham, and golds are dinars.
Folk of some lands (notably Thay and Halruaa) use the currencies of other realms when trading abroad because their own coins and tokens are feared to be magically cursed or trapped, and so are shunned by others.

Conversely, the coins of long-lost legendary lands centers of great magic are honored, though persons who find them are wise to sell them to collectors rather than merely spending them in markets. Particularly famous are the coins of Cormanythyr: thalvers(coppers), bedoars (silvers), shilmaers (golds), and ruendils(platinum). These coins are fine, numerous, and sometimes still used in trade between elves.

Trade bars

Large numbers of coins can be difficult to transport and account for. Many merchants prefer to use trade bars, ingots of precious metals and alloys likely to accepted by virtually anyone. Trade bars are stamped or graven with the symbol of the trading coster or government that originally crafted them. A 2-pound trade bar of silver has value of 5 gp, a 2 pound gold bar is valued at 50 gp, and heavier bars are worth proportionally more. Trade bars typically come in 1-, 2-, 4-, and 10-pound weights.
The city of Baldur's Gate mints large numbers of silver trade bars and sets the standared for this form of currency. Damaged bars are virtually worthless, but bars issued by defunct costers and fallen countries- and rulers are usually worth face value. The city of mirabar issues black iron spindle shaped (with squared ends) trade bars weighing about 2 pound each worth 10 gp in that city but only 5 gp elsewhere.

Gold trade bars are very rare. Only the wealthiest and most powerful merchants and nobles smelt these bars, since only the largest transactions require a currency with such a high face value.

Odd currency

Coins and bars are not the only form of hard currency. Gond bells are small brass bells worth 10 gp in trade, or 20 gp to a temple of Gond. Shaar rings, pierced and polished slices of ivory threaded onto strings by the nomads of the Shaar, are worth 3 gp per slice.

Some undersea races typically use pearls as currency, particularly those who dwell in the shallows and trade with surface races. The value of a pearl varies by size- a quarter inch diameter is the standard-rarity and quality(freedom from flaws). In the sea of Fallen stars, a white pearl or seyar is worth 1 cp "below the wave" and averages 2 sp in value ashore. a yellow hayar pearl is 1 sp undersea and averages 2 gp ashore, a green tayar is 1 gp and 20 gp respectively, and a blue nuyar is 5 gp "wet" and 100 gp "dry". The most prized pearls of all are omars, the 7 inch long, 3 inch wide diamond shaped olive pearls of great claims, worth 500 gp among the aquatic races and over 2,000 gp ashore.

I was under the impression crown was a currency somewhere in the Realms, but I'm no longer sure. The Tricrown is Cormyr's platinium piece, IIRC.

I try to use a mixture of currency from strong nations such as Cormyr, Waterdeep and Silverymoon. Silver Falcons, Shields, and Electrum Moons, for example. Can't keep track of them all, and I don't really have a reliable compilation of canon coins anywhere. Gotta make one myself, I guess, if I have time.

Well not sure when it became that though I have always sorta liked calling it something else than just gold pices. Makes it a more local community like rather than the typical adventurer just selling stuff in random town 73.

Have begun to call coins from winya; Winya Silver though honestly without any lore backing it as far I know there isn't any around?

Though an interesting thought about an Amian minters industry; they would have to work day and night to keep up with the supply of coin. Considering just how inflation on Amia would be they'd be spitting coins out by the second I imagine.

I doubt Winya would mint its own coins, it is very small and insignifigant. The cities that do that on the mainland are generally ten times the size of Cordor. Mirabar, Silverymoon, Waterdeep, Hillsfar. Then there are, of course, nations like Cormyr and Sembia.

what of evermeet?

No idea, but seems likely. Check Elves of Evermeet?

In this style of society, coins themselves wouldn't even be entirely necessary. They'd be the "common man's" (or woman's) method of payment, in the larger towns and cities, mostly out of convenience.

For adventurers, Gems of varying size and quality would be common methods of payment (and this is even suitably well expressed in game, by the fact that not everyone would give the same value for gems, and the way our merchants work, they don't). "Chunks" of metal, such as gold or silver, would be quite common, as would trading in such things as small trinkets or statues - not as a barter system, but based on their material (ie/ gold) and weight. (ie/ "this amulet is about a pound of gold. We'll call it 50 gold coins, fair?" )

When I pay others, I generally emote handing them a jingling bag full of coins and gems. When I post an auction, I tend to say I'm looking for 30'000 gold coins worth of acceptable common currency. 'Cause seriously - I don't have all week to count 30'000 coins with you.

What I'd love very much to see, without having to make a DC item request (Though I've been thinking of doing it anyway), would be a "Coin Converter". Some way to talk to an npc and have them take 100'000 gold, and give you a "Polished Diamond" that you could either sell to a normal merchant for their independant opinion on the items value (set so that you couldn't get ~more~ than 100'000 gold, but that they might offer you only 90'000 with lousy appraise) or that you could give to another pc in payment, and they could go to the banker-style npc, who would take the diamond and give them 100'000 gold (this being one example).

It'd be so very much more IC than how we do things now. And I don't think it'd be too difficult to actually make it work, either. And to make things slightly easier on players - the items used for trading in, like a diamond, would say in their description that the coin converter will give 100'000 gold in trade for it.

This would actually be a pretty good pc job for disco's system, really. Find a pc banker, tell them how much gold you want to trade, and have them use the job widget to delete the set amount of gold, and create a misc item of that gold value. Said item could be traded to any banker, pc or npc. It'd need some fiddling around with the idea to be workable, but it'd be a nice addition.

Digged this fourth; http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Aren ... coins.html about the realms in general though I can't find anything in Evermeet.

A guess would be they either used the same as the Vyshaan empire or something similar. Or the same as Myth Drannor though, coming to think of it I think the latter is the most likely considering the poor reputation of the Vyshaan empire.

My surface characters all deal in Sembian Nobles.

My drow deal in trouble ;) - I've never actually RP'd haggling with a merchant. I would assume the drow use a barter system due to the fractured nature of their society. Obviously coin is used, but it would merely be a baseline against say, seven pills of hallocinogenic mushroom powder, or whatever, and items would be traded instead of mere gold tokens with an implication of value.

I think Cordorian Crown makes sense. We are constantly being yelled at that our gold is not worth the same as that on the Mainland, and since the value of the coin is directly proportional to the amount and type of precious metals contained, it seems a logical progression that Cordor (or everything on Amia) uses their own currency.

That said, you could buy one hundred thousand long swords, resell them on the Mainland for ridiculous profit and then come back.

And of course, the other hole in my reasoning is that one goes to Mulhorand and they still use 'Cordorian Crowns', and they're on the Mainland, which does kind of test suspension of disbelief as to how these coins are in any way different.

Everyone is just mispronouncing them, and actually trading Cordorian Crayons.

Actually, when I trade, I almost always give 30,053 if I'm supposed to be giving 30K, for a part of Cori's reasoning... who the hell would count out 30K of coins except Haley from OOTS. I never thought about making it about gems, but yeah, I almost always say it's a mixture of coins, too. An adventurer isn't gonna find all gold coins on every troll he slashes down.

And who wants to sort through those 30K of coins to go head over to the bank and bother with all the exchange rates, too?

Well guess you could always go with "this item is 300 cordorian gold crown or equivilent weight or value" as done in many cultures where different currencies of precious metals where used. After all it comes down to weight when your coins are made of silver or gold or such, not to the symbol on them. Why do you think scales where so often used by all kinds of merchents?

This is how I see it.

Cordor was the first town that was built up beyond a fishing village. (Winya doesn't count because elves stick to themselves) All the other towns came after. Thus, Cordor has the right to issue the coins atleast across mainland Amia.

Whether that's the case in Ruathym, Khem, Brog and Forstakkr is a different story, whether they accept Cordorian crowns is another ontop of that entirely.

It's IC flavor. I don't mind Cordorian Crowns as a standard, but to me it's silly for Kohl, Tarkuul, Winya, and Bendir, etc to also have their own money.

"Crowns" is fine. "gold" is fine. "Gems" is fine.

I wouldn't worry too much, but that's me. Seems tiny and nitpicky.

*cough* Rupees *cough*

The system in the game is just gold coins. I stick with that. There is no way to set up a special conversion factor for different currencies that is consistent throughout the playerbase (just cuz its a hassle) , and if every coin comes to equal the exact same amount, we can call them all coins.

Think of GP in the abstract. You can role player trading with anything that has this abstract ultimate value of X GP.

RP giving a bag of diamonds, perhaps a couple platinum rods, perhaps a few pinches of ruby dust. Even simple bank notes for plain old gold pieces.

This freedom lets you explain why miscellaneous boar gives X GP, you can sell his important parts or perhaps he was standing on a valuable gem.

TormakSaber wrote:

It's IC flavor. I don't mind Cordorian Crowns as a standard, but to me it's silly for Kohl, Tarkuul, Winya, and Bendir, etc to also have their own money.

"Crowns" is fine. "gold" is fine. "Gems" is fine.

I wouldn't worry too much, but that's me. Seems tiny and nitpicky.

This.

People get bored calling it gold after a while and just want to add in their own touch, so they call it Cordorian Crowns, which is fine by me as Cordor would legitimately dominate the island's economy, imo.

If a PC/player ever tells you your money isn't Cordorian Crowns and tries to jack up the price on something through a conversion rate, they're being a douchebag and you should punch them in the face, though.

Yossarin wrote:

TormakSaber wrote:

It's IC flavor. I don't mind Cordorian Crowns as a standard, but to me it's silly for Kohl, Tarkuul, Winya, and Bendir, etc to also have their own money.

"Crowns" is fine. "gold" is fine. "Gems" is fine.

I wouldn't worry too much, but that's me. Seems tiny and nitpicky.

This.

People get bored calling it gold after a while and just want to add in their own touch, so they call it Cordorian Crowns, which is fine by me as Cordor would legitimately dominate the island's economy, imo.

If a PC/player ever tells you your money isn't Cordorian Crowns and tries to jack up the price on something through a conversion rate, they're being a douchebag and you should punch them in the face, though.

Waste their time - emote *Hands one crown*
*Hands the second crown*
....
*Hands the thriteen thousandth crown*

I suppose that counts as poetic justice.

Use a checking account, you bumpkins!

I like using shamelessly huge coins on Xyr, with varying humorous situations for Duke Monty.

Like the 100,000 Platinum coin one was him was a plate-sized piece of platinum with him smoking a pipe infront of stacks of gold coins at his desk with a cat that ate the canary grin, for instance.

i just rp is as gold, ive not heard anything about -cordorian crowns- until now

Dwagin wrote:

I like using shamelessly huge coins on Xyr, with varying humorous situations for Duke Monty.

Like the 100,000 Platinum coin one was him was a plate-sized piece of platinum with him smoking a pipe infront of stacks of gold coins at his desk with a cat that ate the canary grin, for instance.

My drow carries around pre-counted bags of 100 electrum coins (10 000 gold) in a bag of holding.

personally I always say Gold Peices, if I really wanted to go all out I'd be using electrum and platinum peices, well if electrum still exists, that was way back in 1st edition

*checks manual*

electrum = 2gp, platinum = 5gp, 10 silver is 1 gp, 100 coppers is 1gp, in 1st ed.

tao_myst wrote:

personally I always say Gold Peices, if I really wanted to go all out I'd be using electrum and platinum peices, well if electrum still exists, that was way back in 1st edition

*checks manual*

electrum = 2gp, platinum = 5gp, 10 silver is 1 gp, 100 coppers is 1gp, in 1st ed.

that would kick ass if it were written in the journals for amia people so everyone understands currency

My Khem character pays with Sjekels and animals. One sheep for every tier of equipment, like 5 sheep for +5 stuff.

Third ed platinum is 10 GP, and I'm quite sure it's third or second where electrum is 10 pp.

I can't find a table in 3.5 that tells you, electrum isn't in there at all though...I think platinum is 10 though it would make sense.

In 3.5 Platinum is definitely 10, it says so in the PHB.

Quote:

Particularly famous are the coins of Cormanythyr: thalvers(coppers), bedoars (silvers), shilmaers (golds), and ruendils(platinum). These coins are fine, numerous, and sometimes still used in trade between elves.

I think these might be the currency winya and Evermeet would use, or at least call them.

Thanks I found it now, PP is 10, no electrum listed but I suppose that would make it 4/5 comparing 1st to 3.5 ed as it's slightly less valuable than platinum, I don't know any 2nd ed. rules.

For those interested here's the traded goods value list from 3.5 PHB

Cost / Item | CP = Coppers, SP silver, GP go figure, PP would be platinum but not in list here.

1 CP / One pound of wheat
2 CP / A pound of flour or one chicken
1 SP / A pound of iron (I assume refined not ore ?)
5 SP / A pound of tobacco or copper
1 GP / A pound of cinnamon or one goat
2 GP / A pound of ginger, pepper or one sheep
3 GP / One pig
4 GP / A square yard of linen
5 GP / A pound of salt or silver
10 GP / A square yard of silk or one cow
15 GP / A pound of saffron, cloves or one ox
50 GP / A pound of gold
500 GP or 50 PP ;P / A pound of platinum

It goes on to say that these good's are ommited from the half price rule of equipment and such as they are used like currency in trade, and merchants probably up the price slightly for obvious reasons, hope that's helpful

With the sheer amount of gp around Amia, you know that most of it's not going to be gold at all. It's counterfeit

coloured lead or copper.

You're all going to die slowly of lead poisoning!

Galenson wrote:

With the sheer amount of gp around Amia, you know that most of it's not going to be gold at all. It's counterfeit :P coloured lead or copper.

You're all going to die slowly of lead poisoning!

That is actually quite a believable way of dealing with the fact that money on Amia is worth crap-all compared to the Mainland (although it still doesn't justify the cost of items such as longswords).

I don't really think a tent is worth 1800 gp, and I don't like how npc shops offer you 1 gp for mythal minor crystals either, but then economy is always a tricky subject, just look at the real world a moment lol.

Just what is the economic rate compared to waterdeep's currency and other places? the conversion rate or whatever, like pounds pwn dollar

just as dollar pwns dust in other countries, the ones with a thousand zero's to a £10 note's worth value, I don't wanna point fingers it's a harsh situation for a place to be in.

tao_myst wrote:

I don't really think a tent is worth 1800 gp, and I don't like how npc shops offer you 1 gp for mythal minor crystals either, but then economy is always a tricky subject, just look at the real world a moment lol.

Just what is the economic rate compared to waterdeep's currency and other places? the conversion rate or whatever, like pounds pwn dollar :) just as dollar pwns dust in other countries, the ones with a thousand zero's to a £10 note's worth value, I don't wanna point fingers it's a harsh situation for a place to be in.

The problem with that analogy is that FR doesn't do its economy like we do - they're still stuck in the era where the value of a gold coin is the same as the value of the gold it contains. Melt them down into a bar, and it will still be worth the same amount as keeping them as coins.

As for the prices of mythals that's just a nuisance NWN thing and I'm sure its not intended.

hmm, so gold etc is the same everywhere but trade goods vary in price?

tao_myst wrote:

1 GP / A pound of cinnamon or one goat
3 GP / One pig

Thats it. From now on I'm conducting all trades in multiples of pig, with goats to add up to numbers non divisible by 3.

tao_myst wrote:

hmm, so gold etc is the same everywhere but trade goods vary in price?

Not exactly. A gold coin from Mulhorand will have the same value as an identical weight of gold coins from Ahm. What you can buy with this will, however, vary with the local economy.
An example would be if there is a poor harvest - the local price of food will increase, but the absolute value of the 'gold' (as with all precious metals and stone) does not change in regards to international values.

Cordorian Crowns

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