Currency

People do a lot of strange things for a lot of strange reasons. Religion, science, good ole' fashioned revenge... even love. I'm a simple man with simple motivations. If you see me on my feet you can damn sure count on it that i'm trying the end the day with more coin in my pocket than I started with.

— Rowen Ioz

All of the surviving nations in Tairos use precious metal in the form of coins as their primary form of currency. The practice is believed to have started with the Elves during the early days of Melanthris. It became a way of conducting business with the many tribes of other humanoids that occupied the land. Gold and Silver were precious colors to Corellon The Dawn Master, god of the Elves and they difficult for the simply tribes to mine. It served to both honor their god and limit the young races' access to the medium by which trade was conducted. The practice caught on between the tribal people who come to use Melanthrian coins to barter with each other as well.

The importance of currency rose along with the birth of the Ghal Ankharan people. The mountain Dwarves proved to be very astute at trade and would use their own currency to pull resources away from the elves. They would inject their own coins into the market or even create fake Elven coins to lessen the trading power Melanthris had over the primitive tribes. Once The Grand Concordance of Tairos was formed one of the first measures they came to an agreement on was to honor each other's currencies for their weight in precious metal regardless of which member nation they were minted in.

This recognition of each other's currencies served to quickly cement the alliance together though it had opposition from within certain Dwarven circles. Though the practice was frowned upon many criminals in Ghal Ankhar had become experts at forging the coins of other nations using cheaper materials concealed as genuine gold, silver and copper. This vocal minority was eventually drowned out by the deafening need to unify the continent.

With Balmoral's rise to prominence and the expansion of Humanity's sphere of influence it became no surprise that the Aurin became the most widely used type of coin in the land. The Corin could be found in every city, in every nation and it even among people who were not part of the Concordance this currency carried weight.

When the Tengu arrived on the shores of Tairos they brought with them their own currency and debt keeping records. They seem to exist on a form of credit that is kept among each other that can be repaid with barter, trade and service. They only use the currency of Tairos when dealing with those outside their race. They find the use of precious metal instead of credit to be primitive and easily abused.

Today, few nations are still minting new coins. There simply isn't a need for it. Colonial expansion has ground to a halt, birth rates are lower than in previous generations and violent conflict has taken the place of civilized trade. Should nations suddenly become more stable and life return to the old ruins of Tairos there may come a time when new coins are needed but until then every piece of currency in circulation has been there since at least the time of the Queen's War.

Below are the most common coins in circulation today and the nations from which they came.

Coin Icons by Dalton Clay

Manufacturing process

Precious metals are brought to mints to be melted down and pressed into shape using age-old molds. The molds bear whatever livery and iconography the owning nation held dear.

Significance

Universal. All nations in Tairos recognize the value of coins regardless of the nation they were minted in

Item type

Currency & Deeds

Dimensions

Varies from denomination to denomination as well as between nations

Raw materials & Components

Coins are made from either Copper, Silver or Gold. Gold having the highest market value and Copper the least.

Tools

The coin mints in each nation are some of the most complex, guarded and intricate forges. They are only minimally maintained now as the need to create new coins has passed for now