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Currency Fluff - Theori - 11-21-2019
Authors Note: Just some small flavour for coins in Esshar, and whatnot.
- Essharan currency was intially made of electrum, stamped with the portrait of the King or Queen in power and the year when they were minted. The electrum carried a very small magical signature due to the runework on the mint -a particular runic sequence that is a heavily guarded state secret- which serves as a simple way of identifying counterfeits. Whilst originally there was only one value for the currency, that being One, the increasing wealth of merchants and nobles led to King Mikhail III decreeing the production of three more coins holding differing value; the Silver, Gold and Adamantine coins. A silver coin is worth five electrums, a gold ten, and an adamantine one hundred.
- Common slang is to refer to a coin as the name -or a abbreviation- of the current ruling monarch. For example, under Queen Ariadni II Petrakis, they're commonly referred to as 'Aris' or 'Arias'. Officially, however, they are known broadly as 'Crowns', with the material of the coin added to the term to correlate to their value. Ie, an Electrum Crown, a Silver Crown, a Gold Crown, or and Adamantine Crown.
- Most of the Kingdom's currency is minted in the fortified Noble District of Nuburg, but a backup Mint was installed at the Constellus Fortress -a heavily garrisoned First Light Stronghold- in 693 AC, after Eros Petrakis' rebels captured Nuburg, an act that could have seriously destabilised the longterm Essharan economy. As it was, inflation became a serious problem during the early reign of Queen Sibylla I due to Eros' habit of simply creating more money when funding for his campaign began to run low. This issue persisted throughout most of the 700s, and began to be alleviated only when Sibylla declared any currency bearing Eros' face to be valueless in 708 AC, a drastic action that -although positive in the long run- caused an economic depression, and was a significant factor in the discontent of the first few decades of the 8th century as people were essentially told their life savings no longer held value.
- Despite their economic worthlessness, so few coins marked with Eros' likeness now exist that they are valuable collectors items, especially those minted in 694 AC. It is considered to be in some degree of poor taste to personally own such collections, but the Museum of Essharan History in Nuburg has one of the most complete in the Kingdom.
There are several varieties of coins that are valued as collectors items, other than those mentioned above. Of particular note are:
- Coins minted in 1000 AC; these broke the pre-established mold by being minted with the image of the Nuburg arena. They're commemorative coins, made to celebrate the Grand Games that occurred during the year.
- Foreign currency is valued by collectors, despite their worthlessness in Esshar. Of particular value are pre-Azraelite Empire Valmasian coins. These are usually dug out of shipwrecks around the Valmasian coast, although some have made their way to Esshar over the last few centuries.
- Coins minted during the one year reigns of Alexios II and Helen III -although still holding value as actual currency- are valued due to their rarity.
- Astyan coins. These bear the visage of an Archmage, and are extremely rare. These coins are actually made of arcanium, which is believed to be partly to blame for their rarity -early Essharans are believed to have melted them en mass to create weapons and armour.