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Commonly in our games we always went with the idea of 1 copper being close to $1, thus..
10 coppers = 1 silver which is roughly worth $10
10 Silvers = 1 Gold which is roughly $100
10 Gold = 1 Electrum which is roughly $1000
10 Electrum = 1 Platinum which is roughly $10,000

FR uses the following system-
Most coins in Faerûn work off of the silver and gold standard, with copper pieces (cp) being worth 1/100th of a gold piece (gp) and silver pieces (sp) being worth 1/10 of a GP. Electrum coins are worth 5gp, and platinum coins are worth 10gp. Gold coins are usually minted circular, without any holes, an eighth of an inch thick and an inch-and-a-quarter in diameter. Any less than that and they are considered by most to be "shaved" and worthless. The metal is valuable to many artisans for its malleability, its aesthetic qualities, and the fact that it does not tarnish or rust.

Conversion Simplified: 1000cp = 100sp = 10gp = 2ep = 1pp


Our way was simpler, but their way is more widely accepted in the D&D settings.

realy? xd in all the games we play here in Florida, the unanymous consensus was that 1 copper coin equals a U.S. penny. so, a typical longsword costs like 15 dollars (a masterwork one would be $315.00). xd in your games, that would be more like 1500 bucks! xd

aye, but wealth is relative anyway, ain't it? U.S. money doesn't even realy exist in these settings (leastways it is assumed. i mean there's no reason you can't set your campaign in modern day america...) so there realy never was a point to assigning the value of coins to U.S. currency anyway. it was just a sort of side-banter. in the D&D worlds, it's already set and balanced. a difference of 300 gold on an item based at 15 gold is the same relative difference in value whether the gold value equals a dollar or 100 grand. it real doesn't matter.

was i? i thought i was just joining in on a conversation. but just cause it's pointless doesn't mean it ain't fun to think about. o.o

My way is less confusing math.. razz

More importantly, please excuse the following rant.

The whole copper, silver, gold thing is a pointless over-generalisation from when players couldn't handle the concept of exchange rates and foreign currencies. An abstraction, when in fact a little bit of economy thrown into a game, varied currencies, can really give flavour to a culture.

Take orcs for example. Not unintelligent, and they do understand trade, but why would they bother with this gold stuff? Orcs are a pragmatic race. Gold, copper, silver, platinum, all pretty much useless to them. So why use them as coins? Orcs would be much more likely to use a practical metal, maybe as a representative of an amount of raw material. So steel and iron coins would be more likely, with appropriate names.

Elves, again, why metal? Varnished and intricately carved wood and bone maybe, and in a highly magical society the authenticity could be ascertained by a few minor enchantments to place runes within.

Pixies from one particular game I know of used to use rare flower petals.

Kobolds wouldn't really use anything as far as I can imagine, far too much of a social/anarchist culture to worry about currency, plus they're generally minions and would use the system of their superiors.

Goblins I can see coming up with a very simple, practical method to avoid being cheated. Maybe even gems of varying values, since they'd be much harder to forge than any coins.

Gnomes of course could come up with the most wonderful, intricate systems to demonstrate their cleverness. I see a system where the number of sides along with the colours, weight and engravings of a coin indicate its worth on a massively sliding scale.

Humans tend to be a monarchy in fantasy settings, so I'd see their system being somewhat similar to the old Imperial coinage, stamped with the face of the lord of the realm and broken down in strange ways.

Dwarves would use a huge variety of valuable metals and gems, reflecting their access to the materials needed and love of craftsmanship.

Fey wouldn't really understand commerce - everyone knows about fairy gold.

Kuo-toa, polished and carved bone and fish scales.

Lizardmen I can see using carefully crafted porcelain and polished stone, but don't ask me why.

Okay, I'm now calmer again. All the rant is out of my system for the next few minutes.

i imagine that a portion of those races wouldn't even use a system of currency, but rather barter and trade. orcs and elves especially i can see simply saying "this much potatoes and bread for that length of cloth" or something.