Hello everybody Jorphdan here the PH is silent.
Let’s talk about the currency of the Forgotten
Realms.
Every game uses gold.
Gold as treasure is just common, gotta have
gold to buy supplies or pay for your lavish
lifestyle.
But a lot of us don’t think about currency
in our games, or at least in games set in
the forgotten realms.
I’m sure there are lots of you out there
that have multiple sets of currencies specific
to entire regions or governments.
For today’s video I wanted to chat about
the Forgotten Realms and money.
A lot of us use gold, and for many of you
that gold in one region of the forgotten realms
works exactly the same in another region.
So you can travel anywhere and spend your
gems, gold, silver and copper pieces just
fine.
But with how fleshed out the realms has become;
there are in fact different currencies in
different areas, but they all revolve around
gold and silver somewhat.
One type of gold coin might be worth more
or less in other areas, depending on how and
where it was minted.
Sometimes foreign coins are melted down for
their base metals only to be re minted as
local coins.
To the extreme of this certain cities have
their own set of coins that are worth specific
amounts only within that city and farther
off are considered worthless.
So let’s dive into the currency of the forgotten realms
and see what we can find.
On a whole in the realms gold and gems are
the currency of choice.
Whatever gold won’t buy you gems usually
will.
From the lowest we have copper coins, then
silver, electrum, gold, and platinum pieces.
Typically a coins value is expressed in the
weight of the precious metal of which it’s
made of.
The value of each has changed throughout editions
of D&D. 1st edition for example one Platinum
was worth five gold, but today in 5th edition
1 platinum is worth 10 gold.
Also I had to look up what electrum is, cause
I’m dumb and don't know my metals.
But for those of you like me I’m happy to
share that it is a naturally occuring alloy
of gold and silver with small amounts of copper
and other metals in it.
Which makes electrum coins fit nicely in between
silver and gold ones.
Nearly every major city has their own denominations
and mint their own currency.
If you travel to Amn you’ll find gold pieces
specific to the local government called Danters.
In Calimshan an Electrum piece is called a
centarche and a gold piece is a bicenta.
In Cormyr the royal coinage is stamped with
a dragon, and their gold coins are stamped
with a lion on one side.
This lead to gold coins throughout the realms
being referred to as golden lions.
Not just coins but certain areas mint bars
of gold, silver, platinum etc.
Many merchants prefer to use trade bars, ingots
of precious metals and alloys stamped with
the symbol of the trading organization or
government that created them.
This makes it easier and more precise in trade.
To use these standard bars rather than fluctuating
sized gemstones worth a varied amount.
Lantan created bars that were flat envelope-shaped
pieces of worked steel marked with the great
wheel of Gond.
They are worth 20 gp each and are used around
the Sword Coast.
However getting farther away from Lantan others
might not wish to be paid in this foreign
currency unless the bar had a hefty weight
of precious metals.
For example the bars minted in Mirabar were
made of black iron and worth 10 gp in mirabar
because they were supported by the government.
But outside were typically worth 5 gp.
Coins come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Sembia minted silver pieces in the shape of
a triangle and were commonly known as Hawks.
They also minted some iron currency called
a Steelpence that was valued at one copper.
Silverymoon has some beautiful currency, they
mint crescent-shaped electrum pieces known
as moons and eclipsed moons whose value has
increased over time.
Possibly because of their artistic value or
the combination electrum metal with silver
and gold.
Some coins become worthless in other cities.
The square brass piece in Waterdeep known
as the taol is not traded outside of the city.
So most travelers will exchange all their
brass pieces for copper before leaving the
city.
Lots of local currencies will have better
value within their circle of influence.
Often currency leaving a city or nation will
be worth half or less than the value within.
Finally I’ve mentioned gems which are popular
and rare because of their use in jewelry and
the arcane arts as well as currency, but there
are other non-coin currency.
Some art pieces are used as currency or used
for trade such as small ivory or jade statues.
These art pieces might be exchanged for coin
if a traveler doesn’t want to carry around
small statues.
Paper currency can be found in certain areas.
Really just glorified IOUs but if stolen the
new owner can then redeem the worth on the
paper note.
To keep these official they are often marked
on one side with the symbol of a particular
mercenary company and authorize payment to
the holder.
Fantasy coins are fun and if you’re interested
in obtaining some prop coins for your home
campaign I’d like to recommend Mythic Mint
who sponsored this video.
They’ve got a kickstarter going on now where
you can grab some copper, silver, and gold
coins.
They sent me some of the silver ones which
are really fun.
If you are interested in grabbing some fantasy
coins be sure to check out their kickstarter,
links in the doobly do.
Thanks for watching everyone I hope you enjoyed
this extra Forgotten Realms video as much
as I had fun researching it.
I’ll see you all in the next one!
