| Standard D&D coin | Goblin Kingdom | Elven kingdoms | Human Empire | Vadokan Votar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper (cp) | Shlam (≈ 1/7 of a Santim of Ebnord) | Copper | ||
| Silver (sp) ~ 10 cp | Santim of Ebnord | Chukhai | Doubloon | |
| Gold (gp) ~ 10 sp | Taivion | Ghul of Kulazar | ||
| Platinum (pp) ~ 10 gp | ||||
| Din (≈ 1/5 of a Milliem of Ardrill) | ||||
| 10 platinum | Milliem of Ardrill |
Copper (bronze) coins
The least valuable coins in the world.
Used mostly among the poor. The coin has a formal value, but exchanging it directly for coins of more valuable metals is usually very hard.
Silver coins
The commonest coins in everyday trade. Most peoples have their own equivalent.
- Among the goblins: the Santim of Ebnord
- Among the elves: the chukhai (met with more often among the Gunkhars; in the elven cities it is used noticeably less)
- Among the humans: the doubloon (it is in fact a gold coin, but with very little gold in it. It counts as silver purely by face value.)
Some peoples may “not respect” another country’s silver coinage. Try to pay with a goblin Santim of Ebnord in the elven cities, for instance, and merchants may reckon the coin cheaper – by as much as ×2. In trade on neutral ground the silver coins of different peoples are usually taken as equivalent.
Gold coins
The most valuable and the most readily converted coins.
Taivion ≈ Ghul of Kulazar ≈ 1/20 of a Din.
Gold coins of different peoples are most often exchanged with almost no mark-up (or with minimal loss), provided the coin is accepted as genuine and undamaged.
A note — on rewards and treasure
All of which means that, at the table, it matters which currency the heroes are paid in and where they try to spend it.
If a goblin pays 1000 shlams, for example, that may be a real sum in the Goblin Kingdom, but in the lands of men such a “payment” may be exchanged at a heavy loss — roughly ~500 coppers, say, or less if the money-changer is not interested. The elves may simply fail to recognise the little coins at all and refuse to take them.
A reward in silver (10 Santims of Ebnord, say) looks markedly more serious and is usually more universal.
A note — on coins
For pricing goods and services it is convenient to work from a simple rule of thumb:
1 gp ≈ $10.
A coin normally weighs 9-10 grams, so a hundred coins of any kind weigh about a kilogram, or 2 pounds.