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Questions tagged [currency]

For questions that have to do with means of commercial exchange other than barter.

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-5 votes
3 answers
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How would shopkeepers deal with a nine percent tax? [closed]

We imagine a world with D&D currency (1 gold (gp) = 10 silver (sp) = 100 copper (cp)). And a city where all transactions attract a 9% sales tax which goes to the government. So if a thing costs ...
sil's user avatar
  • 328
3 votes
6 answers
648 views

Could time (in the sense of a labor-hour) be a stable commodity base for a currency on the modern city-state level?

Commodity currencies were the standard for most of history. Coins were made out of precious metals like gold or silver. Later on paper currency was exchangeable for a certain amount of gold or silver ...
Rhymehouse's user avatar
  • 5,278
40 votes
14 answers
8k views

Could a Black Market exist in a cashless society (digital currency)?

I'm writing a story about a fictional city-state on Earth. This city-state is very similar to modern-day Singapore. One unique aspect about Ebonia is that it is a 100% cashless society. All money ...
Rhymehouse's user avatar
  • 5,278
-2 votes
5 answers
232 views

Do you know any traditional non-electric Gold measuring devices?

I have a currency system that uses gold coins. Standard-weight coins bearing marks of state sovereigns exist and they have several features to keep people from shaving-off of them; nonetheless, ...
EMS's user avatar
  • 347
23 votes
12 answers
5k views

A world where some currency loses value when handled would have a deflationary economy. What would the consequences to society be?

Imagine a world which looks roughly like what we might call the “standard D&D setting”; not quite medieval, not quite Renaissance, something like 17th century London, where a penny buys a day’s ...
sil's user avatar
  • 328
7 votes
10 answers
4k views

What Are the Pitfalls of Using Diamonds as Currency? [closed]

Basically I have a world where people use diamonds as currency, and the reason they do this is because diamonds specifically are alchemically inert. Other useless metals like gold are nothing close to ...
skout's user avatar
  • 2,086
8 votes
13 answers
6k views

How would you get a medieval economy to accept fiat currency?

So a nascent interstellar civilization is exploring the local stellar neighborhood when they encounter an earth-like inhabited planet with a developing medieval civilization. The Arcadians are roughly ...
AllSeeingEye33's user avatar
3 votes
5 answers
399 views

Why is there so much unused mana flowing in my mana economy?

I asked some questions about creating a stable economy that uses mana as currency. I'm stuck on a new problem trying to use it, why is there so much mana circulating in the economy already? I want ...
dsollen's user avatar
  • 33.9k
2 votes
2 answers
252 views

Stable mana economy: how would mana transfer at death affect economic stability?

I've now asked some questions about the viability of a pure mana economy, and the answer is that it could work. I don't yet have a full world in mind for this, I'm mostly building up what a viable ...
dsollen's user avatar
  • 33.9k
15 votes
10 answers
4k views

Can I use mana as currency if people are constantly generating more mana?

I want to use mana, used to fuel spells, as a sort of currency. Basically you pay for items not with a fiat currency but with your mana, which someone may later use to cast a spell. I don't have a ...
dsollen's user avatar
  • 33.9k
-3 votes
1 answer
159 views

Energy itself as a form of currency [duplicate]

I have pondered a setting/society where people have access to advanced technology (for one example, food replicators), but either have to work to earn or trade to obtain the power needed to operate it....
king of panes's user avatar
25 votes
18 answers
7k views

Why do wild creatures carry money?

It's an extremely common trope in Role Playing Games (RPG's) for wandering monsters to carry lootable currency (gold, moolah, dinero, big ones, cash, large, green, etc.). Now, it makes sense that non-...
Robert Columbia's user avatar
3 votes
5 answers
413 views

Energy based economy

I am attempting to design an economy based around energy, namely, within a society possessing practical nuclear fusion. As I currently have it set up currency is backed by Hydrogen, meaning you could ...
Boo Radley's user avatar
  • 1,196
-2 votes
1 answer
117 views

What alternative monetary unit can serve as the basis of a reserve currency while preventing a long term debt cycle?

The Bretton-Woods system established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the United States and its allies, and established the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. The ...
Incognito's user avatar
  • 38.5k
0 votes
1 answer
97 views

Is a biofuel-backed currency viable? [closed]

I have a world where there are no fossil fuel deposits. This means that biofuels - fuels artificially created out of biological matter, rather than via geological processes - are the sole hydrocarbons ...
KEY_ABRADE's user avatar
  • 13.1k
3 votes
6 answers
342 views

What would the commodity money system of an interstellar civilization be made of?

I'm building an interstellar empire that uses commodity money as its preferred currency. Despite the network of wormholes connecting various star systems, light lag between planets and stations within ...
Whey_Isolate's user avatar
  • 1,347
8 votes
6 answers
3k views

Would a solar flare that wipes out all of the worlds financial data cause hyperinflation or hyperdeflation of the remaining physical currency?

According to New Scientist, a tech-destroying solar flare could hit Earth within 100 years. It could knock out our electrical grids, satellite communications, and the internet. It might also erase ...
Maurice's user avatar
  • 189
13 votes
14 answers
7k views

Everyday life in a world and civilization which do not have any money in the economy ( and not barter too)

I was reading about non monetary economies and it says that it is a kind of economy that do not have any money in the economy and all goods and services are free to everyone according to Wikipedia. I ...
Sabrine Crystal's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
811 views

How to ensure every citizen gets exactly one Copper Ration?

The Silver Dominion The great and grand Silver Dominion has a steel clad stranglehold on the continent's metal economy. In possession of WWI era industry and technology themselves, they keep their ...
Skyler's user avatar
  • 2,027
-1 votes
1 answer
142 views

How Would it Affect the Galactic Economy if One Planet Controlled 99%+ of the Galaxy's Gold and Silver? [closed]

The Planet Aurea has by far the most gold and silver out of any planet of the entire galaxy (thanks to two mountain ranges it has, one around the size of the US portion of the Rocky Mountains made ...
The Weasel Sagas's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
240 views

How accurate was/ could minting be in the early middle ages regarding to the shape of the coin (circular)?

I am having trouble finding information on this and I lack the knowledge to know how feasible or not this would be. I'd like to know how perfectly round coins could be made in the early middle ages. ...
Robin's user avatar
  • 2,067
4 votes
8 answers
829 views

Human clientes as unofficial currency in a cashless society. Would it work?

Premise The setting is on Earth in a not distant future (imagine 150/200 years). AIs manage most aspects of society, including justice administration. They are extremely efficient and can quickly ...
Duncan Drake's user avatar
  • 3,989
8 votes
6 answers
530 views

How many types of coins are necessary in an economy?

I am creating a universe based on medieval Europe and I was wondering how many types of currency would be needed for a medieval economy to work. Example: The US dollar uses cent, nickel, dime, ...
marieanneseren's user avatar
23 votes
14 answers
5k views

How would fairies in a human-dominated society handle money?

Fairies are small winged humanoids, about 10 cm in height at most. They can proportionally carry more than a human, but not much in absolute terms. Previously, fairies have lives in their own smaller, ...
Grollo's user avatar
  • 4,147
9 votes
8 answers
2k views

Magic economy: Using mana as a standardized unit of currency?

I'm toying with the idea for a world where instead of minting coins out of valuable metals all countries us mana, the 'fuel' of magic, as a currency itself. Since mana always has value, in it's ...
dsollen's user avatar
  • 33.9k
54 votes
30 answers
10k views

Despite slain monsters continually yielding gold coins, why does gold's trading value seem to remain constant over the years?

Set in fantasy medieval times, monsters can be seen loitering around the kingdom. People discovered that the slain carcasses of these monsters contain a certain quantity of gold coins. The rest is ...
user6760's user avatar
  • 48.1k
-4 votes
1 answer
421 views

Non metallic currency [closed]

So i have this world with lots of small city state like kingdoms. And i want them to all have their own currency but to have some diversity i do not want all of them to use the standard medieval/...
Blue Devil's user avatar
  • 1,891
4 votes
3 answers
357 views

Can secrets/information be a feasible currency in a fantasy setting?

In a generic fantasy world, there exists an island community in which the inhabitants are freely provided food, board, and entertainment. Their only use for traditional coin is to trade with passing ...
Conquistador's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
63 views

Magic-Proofing Currency [duplicate]

I am currently developing a world with a hard magic system based entirely on manipulating the natural order of reality in accordance with physical possibility. As long as the ultimate end-state of a ...
archaephyrryx's user avatar
6 votes
8 answers
444 views

Why is there a cap on magical currency despite unlimited magic power?

Set in the modern day, only a small portion of the population is aware of magic and some of them has unlocked their innate magic potential at a young age. There is a governing body that ensure fair ...
user6760's user avatar
  • 48.1k
4 votes
4 answers
478 views

Why would a technologically advance space-faring civilization still use physical currency?

In this world human civilization has reached the stars and now spans across multiple galaxies. Technological advancements such as neural implants, FTL travel, and FTL internet access are ubiquitous ...
TheSlavMan's user avatar
10 votes
14 answers
3k views

Ideas for medieval currency [closed]

D&D and many similar fantasy settings use a (perhaps unrealistically) simple system of currency consisting of silver and gold pieces. (These are, of course, roughly analogous to pence and ...
finn lloyd's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
207 views

How might a multi-backed commodity currency work?

I have three post apocalypse tribes who each produce different goods, let's say black beans (protein dominant), potatoes (carb dominant), and vegetable oil (fat dominant). They're unifying into a ...
WhiskeyHammer's user avatar
7 votes
7 answers
299 views

How would/could a communal society introduce currency?

So I've been working on the history of a particular fantasy world and one of its main societies. Specifically how it rebuilt after a civil war that destabilizes government and destroyed larger cities ...
Elfie's user avatar
  • 121
6 votes
12 answers
765 views

Why would currency retain value even after the kingdom that originally minted them is now gone

The land of Vau was once dominated by the Queens of the "Old Kingdom". The currency of the old kingdom was known as the "Argen". The Argen was minted in silver, bronze, and iron varieties. However The ...
Celestial Dragon Emperor's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
256 views

Introducing currency in a barter trade society

I am writing a book where I have a main character who comes to a young civilization. The young society only works through barter trade, and he wants to introduce a form of currency, such as money. ...
AntonyMN's user avatar
  • 145
2 votes
3 answers
492 views

How was currency converted in the middle ages?

I have tried to look for an answer using the [currency] tag but none of those questions had answers that sufficed. I understand that back then there were a myriad of currencies, most of these were ...
Robin's user avatar
  • 2,067
0 votes
4 answers
411 views

What modern things that are cheap can be good to sell in a fantasy medieval world at high price [closed]

I have my protagonist go to a fantasy world that is locked in their medieval era like late 1300 early 1400. My protagonist need money to travel, so what kind of modern invention, a material that is ...
N7Sn4k3's user avatar
  • 11
29 votes
17 answers
6k views

Justification of physical currency in an interstellar civilization?

I have seen a similar-ish question on here, but it doesn't quite match my inquiry. Suppose you have an interstellar civilization (the means of travel between stars being stable two-way wormholes on ...
Cereza's user avatar
  • 1,829
11 votes
5 answers
2k views

What are the potential pitfalls when using metals as a currency?

Somewhat related question, but not the same goal In my current concept metals (from nickel to iridium, based on density) are used in the magic system. So in a way they are directly tied to power. I ...
user avatar
15 votes
7 answers
2k views

What would be the benefits of having both a state and local currencies?

The Hegemony has a global (technically interplanetary currency) known simply as the Hegemony Credit. Unlike some currencies the credit does not have smaller denominations only credits. In theory the ...
Celestial Dragon Emperor's user avatar
15 votes
16 answers
6k views

Selling food to the enemy

The castle is under siege. The inhabitants are running out of food but have plenty of gold. The attackers have food supplies but need money to keep them coming. Does it make sense for the attackers ...
chasly - supports Monica's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
1k views

Realistic or not? Representative money backed by water? [duplicate]

In my setting, a highly arid post-apocalyptic world, I am considering the use of a representative currency backed by clean, fresh water. The idea would be that the everyday person doesn't have to haul ...
Arkenstein XII's user avatar
7 votes
5 answers
564 views

On the Matter of Inflation

I've been toying around with the idea that the Empire in my flintlock fantasy setting is trying to make sure that the money used in all its territories is the same, as the use of localized currencies ...
user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
450 views

What would be an ideal alloying metal for gold coinage?

This is something of a practical question more than anything else. Consider a setting in the modern world, where a large country e.g. the U.S. has collapsed and been replaced by a sort of modernized ...
Horik's user avatar
  • 1,123
3 votes
5 answers
128 views

Resource from enemy space ships as currency [closed]

I am developing a space ship game (where you fight against enemy space ships) and want to consider which resource should be used as game currency. In comparison to classic fantasy/medieval universe ...
streng's user avatar
  • 31
-4 votes
5 answers
106 views

What proof of work style currency could early human civilizations develop?

The story I am writing centers on humanity with an alternate history but still close to ours. I am trying to come up with a proof of work style currency early human civilizations could have developed. ...
EPICI's user avatar
  • 155
5 votes
10 answers
3k views

In a world where money and currency were never invented, and never will, how is international trade different from our world?

This is something that I've been thinking a lot about. Before there was currency the way that people traded goods was through bartering their goods and services in exchange for other goods and ...
Pablo's user avatar
  • 169
45 votes
8 answers
10k views

Can coins be made out of concrete or cement?

Would it be possible to make coins from concrete with designs like the metal ones?
Alexandre S.'s user avatar
9 votes
9 answers
8k views

Using fire as currency?

Long ago, modern humans died off. Only a few people remained, and they made all sorts of GMO plants, like moss that grows extremely quickly and can be dried into flour. Houses are made out of wood......
rydwolf's user avatar
  • 2,596