Merchants and adventurers alike tend to use coins as the standard unit of currency for most

transactions. The exchange of large amounts of money might be handled by letters of credit,
ingots of gold, or gems and jewelry, but the value is usually measured in gold pieces. The
common people of the world deal more widely with forms of barter of goods and services but
when coins are used, they are usually silver pieces and copper pieces.

A gold piece is worth 10 silver pieces, and a silver piece is worth 10 copper pieces. Coins made
of Platinum or Electrum are rare and usually ancient.

Many of the world’s ancient empires also minted platinum pieces (see below), and merchants
still accept them even if most people never see them. They’re most common in ancient treasure
hoards. A platinum piece is worth 100 gold pieces while an electrum is worth 5 silver pieces.

A piece is a coin about an inch across, and weighs about a third of an ounce (50 pieces to the
pound). Gems and jewelry are a more portable form of wealth favored by adventurers. Among
commoners, “portable wealth” usually means cattle (with one cow worth about 10 gold pieces in
trade).

Coins of the Vale:

Coins are called in the Vale
Gold pieces are called Crowns
Silver pieces are called Princes
Copper pieces are called Bars

Coins of the ancient empires:

Gold coins in the Empire of Cendriane were called crescents (sing. crescent). In Zannad, they
were ouroboros (same in singular); in Arkhosia, talons (sing. talon); in Bael Turath, triams (sing.
triam); and in Nerath, crowns (sing. crown).

Nowadays, any of those coins is worth a platinum piece (or 100 gold pieces), regardless of the
actual value it could have had in those ancient nations.