Money & shopping

Marrephilahd & the Venial empire

The Marrephiligan currency is gold, silver, and copper. Most coins are valued by weight and metal, with the exception of the Venial Imperial Gold Coin (the £). The commonly exchanged coins are the

  shilling (¢) (copper)
10 ¢ makes a $ (silver)
10 $ make a Piece (gold)
5 pieces make a Crown (gold)
13 crowns make a £ (gold)

Older coins are sometimes found in exchange as well.

a penny (copper) is worth 2¢
a kon (silver) is worth 5$

Other precious metals are exchanged by weight only – the standard measure is the Imperial Gold Coin. (A GP weighs about as much as a silver dollar – about half a £; a crown, on the other hand, weighs 3£s). Platinum, for example, trades at 4000$ per £, while electrum is worth 10$ per £.

The Empire is very strict about its money supply; you must use Imperial or provincial currency within the Empire or face a stiff fine. Every large community has a branch of the Royal Venial Bank (RVB) or the Marrephilahd Workers Co-op (MWC) which will convert foreign currency to Imperial dollars for a nominal fee (usually about .5% of the value being exchanged.) There are also regional banks and currency exchanges that will do the job, but at a somewhat higher rate (1% to 3% of value).

Prices for common items in Marrephilahd

Item Cost Item Cost
Dagger (d4) 30$ Hand Axe (d4) 30$
Mace (d6) 50$ Sword (d8) 100$
Battle Axe (d8) 70$ Morning Star (d8) 70$
Spear (d6) 20$ Halberd (d10) 70$
2H Sword (d10) 150$ Lance (d12) 40$
Bow,short (d4) 250$ Bow,long (d6) 400$
Crossbow (d6) 150$ Hvy Crossbow (d8) 250$
Arrow 5$ Quarrel 2$
Quiver/Case 5$ Flintlock (d8) 2£ (1300$)
Gunpowder/1use 50$ GunBullet 3$
Sling (d3) 10$ Sling Bullet 2$
Leather armor (AC8) 100$ Chainmail (AC6) 1000$
Plate armor (AC3) Helmet 100$
Shield (+1 AC) 100$ Full Shield 200$
Mule 200$ Draft horse 300$
Light horse 400$ Warhorse 1000$
Hvy Warhorse Saddle 50$
Saddlebag 20$ Cart 1000$
Wagon
50' rope 1$ 10' pole 2$
12 iron Spikes 5$ Small sack 1$
Large sack 2$ Leather backpack 50$
Wineskin 3$ 1 torch
Lantern 50$ Flask of lampoil
Flask of Kerosine 6$ 3 stakes & mallet 10$
Mirror 30$ Silver mirror 50$
Iron Rations/day 1$ Rations/week 3$
Flint & Steel 10$ Lighter 200$
Raft 100$ Small boat 500$
~15' boat 80£ ~30' boat 300£
~50' ship 500£ ~90' ship 800£
~120' ship 3200£ Steamship 6000£
Small Galley 150£ Large Galley 480£

To silver a weapon, it costs 50% of the original price of the weapon or 2 GP ($5 for bullets), whichever is higher.

Nerol

In Nerol, all the coinage is silver or gold;

1 dollar = 5 scores = 10 decades = 20 nickels = 100 pennies.

conversion rates

Nerol   Venial
1 dollar (gold) 1 Crown
1 score (gold) 1 GP
1 decade (silver) 5$
1 nickel (silver) 25¢
1 penny (silver)

Unlike the Empire, Nerol will accept any currency at face value – About 60% of the circulating currency in Nerol is Venial coin.

Balkanised states

All the balkanised states use any silver or gold coin by weight.

Cinnabar

Cinnabar has a wide variety of currency:

1 dollar = 6 imperial = 60 silvers = 240 coppers = 480 pennies.

conversion rates

Cinnabar   Venial
1 dollar (gold) 1 Crown
1 imperial (gold) 8$
1 silver  
1 copper   ~2¢
1 penny   ~1¢

Like the Empire, Cinnabar does not want other currencies circulating within its borders; There are customhouses at each border crossing where you can exchange money at approximately even rates, and you can change money at banks for about 5% of the value being exchanged. If you are caught using foreign currency within Cinnabar, you are fined 50% of your goods, including all of your foreign currency.

Demos of the Horde

The Demos Of The Horde is really wierd; it uses paper money, backed up by government gold:

The basic unit of coin is the ‘credit’, which is about the same value as a shilling; you can find notes in demoninations of 1,2,5,10,20,25,50,100,200, and 500 credits. Other currencies are not accepted, but barter is.

Since the Demos has such a vague form of government, it is difficult to get money changed within the country. However, many banks within the balkanised states will do the conversion for you.

The only way, btw, to exchange credits within the Demos is to find a registered moneylender, who will take your other currency and give you a promissory note for credits, which you then take to the treasury and exchange for credit notes. The moneylender will charge about 1-5% for their services, but will usually throw in a couple of aspirin for your headache.