Currency in the DwarvenWorld is based on the gold piece; since gold is much more common on this dense planet, it does not quite have the value it has in other mediaeval worlds (including old Europe). To give an indication, a small artisan of Aulenors (let's say a cobbler) usually expects to earn something between 10 and 15 pieces a month.
Gold pieces were originally produced by the imperial mint in Gorhad; they are quite large and heavy coins, weighing about 40 grams each; when the Four Realms claimed independence in 1750, each realm opened its own mint, but the coins, albeit with different drawings and inscriptions, were still made of the very same alloy, and had the same weight and shape. Coins in the royal treasuries were simply printed with a rough sign indicating the new lords of the domain; some of these misshapen pieces are still circulating in the times this site deals with, and are thought of as good luck charms in the Realms. Since all gold pieces have basically the same quantity of metal, they can be freely used in the Empire, the Four Realms, the Haram Plateau, Zender and even Nebria and Clenia without particular problems. As far as the value is concerned, a gold piece can buy:
- An abundant meal in a luxurious tavern
- The services of a skilled prostitute
- A bad pair of sandals
- Two large unused parchment scrolls
- A very large morray eel (a fish of which DwarvenWorlders are very fond)
For smaller purchases, one uses silver and copper pieces; these are the same size as gold ones, and obviously lighter; a silver piece is worth one tenth of a gold one, and a copper one one tenth of that still.
Again, since silver coins are minted the same way everywhere, they are also accepted everywhere; the only exception is Clenia where people, being still somewhat barbaric in mentality, accept only gold as currency, and resort to bartering otherwise. Copper coins, instead, are usually valid only where they have been produced.
A further type of currency is the platinum wheel. This is a very large coin, whose value and rarity is connected with the fact that melting platinum is quite impossible with mediaeval technology. Platinum wheels are minted only in Gorhad, and the process requires special materials that are found only in the Nebrian desert. Each wheel is different in size and decoration, usually celebrating some event (battles, alliances, births) and its value (usually between 75 and 300 gold pieces), which depends on its weight, is inscribed on it. Rumors have that alchemical processes are necessary in order to melt platinum, and that no wheel has been minted after emperor Valerius' death.
Some attribute to these old coins, and in particular to the so-called Guthmundr series (minted to celebrate alliance to a king of Clenia in 1781), strong interferential powers, but which exactly is hard to tell.
To add spice to the game, we report here how coins are called in the countries that mint them; terms in parenthesis are Neogorhadian.
