_Michael_
Troubadour
So, I'm seeking numismatists and others knowledgeable about coins, scales, and particularly about money changers and setting up a fantasy system of multiple different coins from different nations to add realism. Yes, I'm aware of D&D's penchant for using a base-10 system, and I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, just add more depth to it by making a more realistic system where there will be different coins and exchange rates for different nations.
I'm designing a low-magic/high-damage campaign world where there is an organization (the High Council of Wizardry) that acts as a non-political body comprised of magic users who seek to prevent another extinction-level event like the Schism that cast human civilization back thousands of years from an era of high-technology and magical artifice (the Age of Dreams). The High Council has filled in the gaps for the last three millennia, recovering lost lore and rebuilding civilization, including the creation of a trade language called Lani to facilitate humanity's rebirth. Part of that was a standardization of coins; while the coinage itself isn't standard, the methods of measuring it are.
All coins are measured on two scales called kovanale. The kovanale scales measure both the weight and the specific gravity of the coin through a system that uses a mercury cylinder to determine displacement. By measuring the weight and displacement thusly, fraudulent coins are detected. All coins also have a square hole in them of a very specific size regardless of coin size. This allows any coin from any kingdom to be immediately measured and exchanged according to standardized international rates. The scales and weights used by the keepers of kovanale, called kovani, are kept under lock and key at all times, and interfering with a kovani is generally treated very harshly by all nations and kingdoms akin to tax fraud.
Any ideas on the scales themselves would be cool, too. I'm pretty sure that the technology existed in medieval times to make such a scale that used a series of weights and a liquid to measure displacement to detect fraudulent coins--any ideas here would be appreciated.
So far, this is what I've come up with:
Solastian (Arkenheim) Coinage
Quarter-Copper Piece = Farthing
Half-Copper Piece = Half-fennig
Copper Piece = Fennig (Fenna, Fenny, regional dialect examples)
Double-Copper Piece = Bronze Eagle
Five-Copper Piece = Bronze Crown
Silver Piece = Argent (Argus, Argul, regional dialect examples)
Double-Silver Piece = Silver Eagle
Five-Silver Piece = Silver Crown
Gold Piece = Solarin (Solar, Solarn, regional dialect examples)
Double-Gold Piece = Gold Eagle
Five-Gold Piece = Gold Crown
Platinum Piece = Sovereign
The next kingdom (Sintar) I'm not quite finished with yet, but the language is roughly based on Croatian to give it a regional flavoring. The kingdom is a bicameral mercantile oligarchy comprised of wealthy merchant families in what is officially titled the Solin Court of the Khanar. Hence, some of the coin names.
Sintari (Sintar) Coinage
Half-Copper Piece = Panzh (worth 1/2 Talir)
Copper Piece = Talir
Silver Piece = Tolar(worth 10 Taliri)
Gold Piece = Solin (worth 10 Tolari)
Platinum Piece = Khanar (worth 50 Solins)
This is all I got so far. The Solastian coinage will likely be the Dollar of the fantasy world--accepted by all and the most common coinage found in trade. I want at least a dozen coinage systems and will probably shoot for more. Yes, it's a pain, and it adds a heavy granularity to RPGs, but it shouldn't be that cumbersome if most common coins are those of the Solastians and those can be changed at money changers for local currency no problem. I figure the ability to add some detail to treasure charts is going to be worth the extra work on the front-end. "You found a bag of fifty or so fennigs, mixed in with a dozen argents and a couple of solarins, along with a handful of gold coins you don't recognize," sounds a lot better than, "You found a sack of gold coins."
Looking for any input. Anyone whose done something similar--how did you make it work? Did you keep it all in base-10 or go the British route with their shillings and pounds and whatnot? I'd like to stay with the base-10 system and just vary off that baseline, if possible, and try to avoid denominations of 3 or 6 or other oddball numbers. Any advice for making it work? How should I set up exchange tables to make them quick and easy? I was going to just have each kingdom listed with it's own exchange rate measured against the Solastian coinage as my measuring stick. Any help would be appreciated, especially coming up with names for the coinage that is punchy and not overly-cumbersome.
I'm designing a low-magic/high-damage campaign world where there is an organization (the High Council of Wizardry) that acts as a non-political body comprised of magic users who seek to prevent another extinction-level event like the Schism that cast human civilization back thousands of years from an era of high-technology and magical artifice (the Age of Dreams). The High Council has filled in the gaps for the last three millennia, recovering lost lore and rebuilding civilization, including the creation of a trade language called Lani to facilitate humanity's rebirth. Part of that was a standardization of coins; while the coinage itself isn't standard, the methods of measuring it are.
All coins are measured on two scales called kovanale. The kovanale scales measure both the weight and the specific gravity of the coin through a system that uses a mercury cylinder to determine displacement. By measuring the weight and displacement thusly, fraudulent coins are detected. All coins also have a square hole in them of a very specific size regardless of coin size. This allows any coin from any kingdom to be immediately measured and exchanged according to standardized international rates. The scales and weights used by the keepers of kovanale, called kovani, are kept under lock and key at all times, and interfering with a kovani is generally treated very harshly by all nations and kingdoms akin to tax fraud.
Any ideas on the scales themselves would be cool, too. I'm pretty sure that the technology existed in medieval times to make such a scale that used a series of weights and a liquid to measure displacement to detect fraudulent coins--any ideas here would be appreciated.
So far, this is what I've come up with:
Solastian (Arkenheim) Coinage
Quarter-Copper Piece = Farthing
Half-Copper Piece = Half-fennig
Copper Piece = Fennig (Fenna, Fenny, regional dialect examples)
Double-Copper Piece = Bronze Eagle
Five-Copper Piece = Bronze Crown
Silver Piece = Argent (Argus, Argul, regional dialect examples)
Double-Silver Piece = Silver Eagle
Five-Silver Piece = Silver Crown
Gold Piece = Solarin (Solar, Solarn, regional dialect examples)
Double-Gold Piece = Gold Eagle
Five-Gold Piece = Gold Crown
Platinum Piece = Sovereign
The next kingdom (Sintar) I'm not quite finished with yet, but the language is roughly based on Croatian to give it a regional flavoring. The kingdom is a bicameral mercantile oligarchy comprised of wealthy merchant families in what is officially titled the Solin Court of the Khanar. Hence, some of the coin names.
Sintari (Sintar) Coinage
Half-Copper Piece = Panzh (worth 1/2 Talir)
Copper Piece = Talir
Silver Piece = Tolar(worth 10 Taliri)
Gold Piece = Solin (worth 10 Tolari)
Platinum Piece = Khanar (worth 50 Solins)
This is all I got so far. The Solastian coinage will likely be the Dollar of the fantasy world--accepted by all and the most common coinage found in trade. I want at least a dozen coinage systems and will probably shoot for more. Yes, it's a pain, and it adds a heavy granularity to RPGs, but it shouldn't be that cumbersome if most common coins are those of the Solastians and those can be changed at money changers for local currency no problem. I figure the ability to add some detail to treasure charts is going to be worth the extra work on the front-end. "You found a bag of fifty or so fennigs, mixed in with a dozen argents and a couple of solarins, along with a handful of gold coins you don't recognize," sounds a lot better than, "You found a sack of gold coins."
Looking for any input. Anyone whose done something similar--how did you make it work? Did you keep it all in base-10 or go the British route with their shillings and pounds and whatnot? I'd like to stay with the base-10 system and just vary off that baseline, if possible, and try to avoid denominations of 3 or 6 or other oddball numbers. Any advice for making it work? How should I set up exchange tables to make them quick and easy? I was going to just have each kingdom listed with it's own exchange rate measured against the Solastian coinage as my measuring stick. Any help would be appreciated, especially coming up with names for the coinage that is punchy and not overly-cumbersome.