Summary
A circular coin a quarter the size of a
human's hand, and a hallmark of what
dragons consider 'pocket change'. Their typical design is two components: a metallic frame of a valuable metal, such as silver or gold, and a crystalline core made from processed
crysium. The actual monetary value of the coin is determined by what kind of crysium and metal are minted together. Etchings of the particular mint, time minted, composition, and some identifying details normally cover the surrounding metal frame.
Of all the legacies of
the Imperium, the most useful and eagerly adopted was the
Imperial Crysium Standard, or ICS, a unifying currency-based system commissioned by Imperious herself. Notoriously preferring brutal simplicity over nuance or intrigue, the ICS was made to swallow all concepts of money or goods into a singular identity. To do so, crysium was chosen for both its ubiquity across
Veltrona and for its relatively consistent amounts of
mana. That is, crysium of certain sizes or densities would have certain ranges of mana within them.
Through an involved minting process, the crysium would be processed down into coins that had metallic frames. What mana was left inside the coins, as well as the metal frame the coin had, formed the two-prong system of value. In this way, the ICS also attached common value to the metals used in the coins, so not all mining efforts for them were abandoned. The simplicity of the move is perhaps the greatest reason the ICS was as successful as it was.
The ICS is what transformed the economy of the Imperium and its controlled territories. A person with ICS coins from
Immensio could trade as far away as
Nerzin with fairly minimal value drift. Those nations outside of the Imperium but still trading with it bent around the ICS, no matter how much they loved or hated it. Such a titanic economy warped the world around itself, and by the end of its lifetime, everybody had an understanding of what ICS coins were worth.
After
the destruction of the World Gate, the ICS' ubiquity is what many returned to using. In the uncertainty of the world at the time, such a commonality proved critical in the rebuilding efforts. However, as nations reestablished themselves, adhering to the old standard often limited their economic or political prowess. More and more broke away from it, minting their own currencies to better establish (or isolate) themselves. Such currencies rose and fell with the nations that made them, but the ICS remained an ever constant point of reference.
In the modern times, larger powers have supplanted the ICS for the most part. Many of their economies can still be drawn in relation to it, though. Since the ICS itself is still used, principally among
monsterkind, no serious economy can ignore it. This can result in some absurd issues, such as one economy pricing its values over ten-times that of a single ICS coin. Where many different kinds of people and their perspectives are concerned, at least, the ICS provides a common ground to them all. In that respect it may perhaps be the greatest benevolent invention of the Imperium as a whole.
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