Coinage

Legend

“From Barter it sprang, as realm strengthening symbols it sang. Coins, the trustworthy rain!”

Skjald Vinotis

 

Description

There was only barter in ancient times since the essential concern was what one had and what one needed. Of course, there was plundering, theft, and looting as well. However, these are not coinage covered trade.

As time passed, some observers recognized a pattern of situations in which sellers or purchasers were ready to trade but had no genuine use for the counterpart’s offer. As a result, the attention shifted to other things, and precious metals entered the scene and quickly took on a life of their own. Because gold and silver were scarce, they required considerable work to mine, handle, and refine.

The affluent and rulers of empires and kingdoms were the first to introduce gold, silver, bronze, and textile coinage. They further concentrated and solidified their control by guaranteeing the value and were ready to swap coin for whatever was in store.

Skjald El Mary

 

History

Redenomination of coins

The world reacted significantly as Ljostari sank and Mt. Vula erupted, resulting in a massive tsunami. Many historical currencies became extinct because they were no longer guaranteed and the coins wore out. As a result, barter resurfaced and gradually replaced cash as the primary mode of exchange.

Around 600 F.A., currency gradually became prominent once more in a system of silver, bronze, copper, tin, iron, and textiles. Due to its metal worth and memory of how seldom it was used back then, gold was not utilized as a currency.

However, the variety in coin sizes, metals, and mixtures was frequently a barrier in trade, and the cost of minting often surpassed the coin’s trade value. As a result, about the year hordes began to focus on silver, with 1 kilogram of metal equaling 200 Solidu. The Hordal Solidu coins, manufactured and scaled with values of 1 (Solidu), 2 (Dualer), 4 (Crown), and 8 (Diviner), were favorably received and within a few years most Hordes, nobles, leaders, and anyone else minting had switched to them. To the chagrin of monarchs and minters, the ordinary people developed the habit of cutting the 1 Solidu in half (Halfting) or quarters (Quarting).

Because to a scarcity of silver ore or other constraints, some locals thinned the silver with less valuable metals. A practice that spread as more coinage allowed for more commodities and hired labour. However, it also bred suspicion in the coin’s value and those who manufactured it. Mint contamination was frequently observed during Solidu cuts.

Skjald Sigurd

 

This practice, along with people’s suspicion, had an influence on commerce once again, as determining the worth of a coin required a skilled metallurgist or alchemist. A difficulty that was evident to some highly strong monarchs and statesmen during a feast in 1167, contemplating the possibility of a united kingdom. The truesilver Soludi – a realm-strengthening maneuver – was born then and there.

One Truesilver Soludi would be worth one Solidu, but it had to be silver solely, with no additives, regardless of its intrinsic purity. It also required to include details about who issued it, the year it was minted, and where it was made. To maintain the spotlight on the rulers rather than the craftspeople, it was determined that a tiny emblem and the mintmaster’s initials would sufficient. The new Truesilver Soludi began to circulate in the months that followed. Some mints also produced a Truesilver Soludi with values of 1,2,4, and 8 Soludi.

The fact that minters took upon themselves to cover the exchange loss from the Solidu to Soludi was a clever move. As it ensured that the coins quickly established dominance across the Isles. It did though also become the end of quite a lot on metal thinners and false minters. Because the old Solidu and the new Soludi were so alike, the ordinary people’s practice of cutting the 1 Solidu in half (Halfting) or quarters (Quarting) remained with the Soludi, much to the chagrin of monarchs and minters. Who, despite the costs of production, began to contemplate a less valuable coin.

Skjald Yell'a'Beard

 

The Gold Liber Floris, Silver Solidus, and Copper Denar 

These tree coins were introduced under a system known as ‘LSD’ by the High King and The Realm. And we Skjalds considered it odd that the High King introduced the Gold Liber Floris, which has a High King profile on one side and a Floral on the other. Allowing the Floras, all of them, to be Combat Herbs.

Either the High King is hinting at something, or he has missed this royal minter action, which is improbable. As a result, the Gold Liber Floris raised eyebrows, and all 27 became collectors goods because they were uncommon – now much more so because many were destroyed during The Great Invasion. We’ve asked Black Oak about it countless times, but he just shrugs.

Skjald Sejrik

 

The Gold Liber Floris

Despite the fact that currencies were based on silver rather than gold because gold was simply too valuable. Gold coins reappeared as a consequence of the High Kings’ need for an even more Realm uniting emblem. Along with this, an attempt to halt the chopping up of Truesilver coins led in the Denar, as a historical tripartite system, with gold, silver, and copper does harken to something actual…. Essence, Channelling, and Mentalism… or the Divine-, N-Erectus, and Human Races.

The Gold Liber Floris was a high-value currency, since a single Gold Liber Floris was 16mm wide, 2mm thick, and weighed 8 gram pure gold, it equaled 128 Soludi on the streets. Although its remarkable floral theme soon made it a collectors item, raising its value considerably.

The Truesilver Soludi

With the introduction of the Denar, the strain on silver for the Soludi was relieved, and demand for Soludi and previous Solidu cuts declined. The Realm also oversaw the collecting of cut pieces as part of a redenomination effort to remove them from everyday commerce as soon as they were discovered, so the Silver coin-cutting habit diminished.

The Copper Denar

The Copper Denar had a set value of 1/8 Soludi (1/4 Silver gram) and was intended to cover ordinary expenditures like as bread, eggs, and other small commodities. The goal was also that these less-than-metal-value coins would be worth the effort, avoiding the Silver Soludi from being chopped up and easing some of the load on the Silver ores.

As time passed, in order to cut Silver demand even more, reduce manufacturing costs, and diminish the need for coinage, Copper Denar with values of 2 and 4 began to be struck alongside the former value of 1.

Skjald El Mary

 

Minting

The first Gold Liber Floris was minted in 1250, and the last one in the spring of 1277. Due the unforseen change in who became High King in 1274, that year actually saw a double minting. The collection and remelting of that years uncirculated Liber Floris, contributed to the 1274 first, becoming the most rare of them all. It even outranked the 1277 one, as that one, was both normally distributed for a brief period, but also floated across the realm, as loot from Grimsborg or retrieved from slain invaders.

Solvar Svartholtr’s motto: Obliged, Bound, The Realm

Skjald Vinotis

 

Economy

As the realm became an established thing in the minds of the people, and the use of old coinage became more of a hassle than a smooth trade. People began to realise that the real value of historic coins and the old Hordal Solidu was not found in a hard-won purchase of goods but in the hands of coin collectors or merchants dealing in that area. As their true worth was unknown, people hoping for a better bargain often kept their coins for better deals.

During the existence of the realm, the coinage of frequent usage thus became the truesilver soludi or the copper denar. As minting became more centralised, with many minters working together in large workshops, the artistic quality of coins improved. This is especially notable on the gold liber floris coins, if you are able to encounter such, as their value generally exceeds village and town market prices.

Coins gained enormous popularity and purchasing power among people, although peasants, whose labour was often very cheap, saw food consume at least half of all their money, if not more. So there was little money left over for clothing, tools, and lodging. Things such as weapons, armour, combat herbs, and maps were generally out of reach for any commoner.

As the great invasion unfolded, the realm crumbled, and the invaders finally were defeated. Weapons, armour, combat herbs, maps, and other supplies, as well as coin-piles of both historical and of the realm, were far easier to encounter. Coins of the realm, although still rock solid as a new high king is in the brewing, especially those with little or no wear, have begun to go up in value. Especially since a growing number of locals are back at minting their own, most likely praying in secret that there will be no new realm.

Skjald Valgrif

 

Large quantities of money are difficult to carry, therefore they should be stored or placed with someone trustworthy: a Merchant, a Clergyman, or a ruler. Major purchases are rare unless made via this individual, through letters of credit, or through other time-consuming agreements.

Discovered coin hoards will be nearly useless as everyday money, especially if they are old: finders would have to contact dealers to take the collectors goods or metal for its own worth – for a price, of course. Such changes are also required for travel. And the foreignness of another country’s coinage will frequently have the same consequences in complicated coinage systems.

Skjald Ulrich

 

Special

If you have antique currency, don’t bite, scrape, bend, or plunge it down with the others. And don’t try to melt it down. Slide it aside carefully, wrap it, and preserve it until you come across a buyer or collector of such rareties. They are worth tens or hundreds of times their face value to the proper individuals.

Skjald Kazumix