For a few GPs more

The gold piece is the standard monitary rate in the Greyhawk world but one thing that never seems to crop up or be discussed is what is a GP. I refer of course to its apperance not its content or value. Merchants guilds control all or most of the trade within Greyhawk. Bankers handle, satsh and loan vast quantities of money for Merchants and Kings alike. So how is it kept safe?

A bank has its own coin forge linked to its capitol reserves. Say a bank has 1 million gps. It can maybe afford to keep half this in secure reserves. It does this nnot only by storing it in multiple secure locations but b smelting it down and molding it into a new coin baring the banks seal on one side along with the seal of any Merchant Guild to which it is mainly affiliated. The other side bares the seal of the lord of the land. In this way any thief would have to change the coin or circulate marked currancy to others giving time enough for the sheriff to track it down. The seure coins carry the regents seal for which permission is granted. This means that any attampt to forge the seal will meet with the severe disapproval of the regent.

When a new regent comes to power he must pay for the minting of new coins. Calculate this at 1gp per 100 citizens a country has. A merchant guild or other body or Lord may foot the bill to gain favouritism. The minting of a new coin with the face of the new regent on it is not just cosmetic or economic. The ordinary people get to see what their monarch looks like, daily and how he changes with each new minting as the years go by. Coins may also be minted with the face of the Monarches heir or to commerate a victory. A regents face is updated on a coin every ten years on average ( not everytime he grows a mustache or side burns ).

A common coin carries the seal of the regent on one side and the face in profile of the regent on the other. This is the currancy of a kingdom, although other currancies are worht the same equal amount and are just as valid because the content is whats important. The forging of coins by a kingdom allows a greater degree of control over economic affairs. A regent can for instance decree that all the face coins of a ditterent kingdom are to be converted because to spend them is an offence. The regent may be at war or simply granting the Merchants guild a gift because they will take 5% for converting the old coin, unless it is coin in their accounts being held for a customer.

Coins of differing types can also act as massages. Agents of one kingdom may identify themselves to each other with a coin or a mixture of coins i.e. A Greyhawk crown, a Geoff gp and a scarlet brotherhood coin.

An interesting aspect of coins in the greyhawk world is that a traveller may be identified by the coin he carries. In order to make the best use of this an organised kingdom will order merchant guilds through their bankers to remove forign coins by reminting them. The regent may insist on this as a service in return for allowing a guild to operate ( nothing is free, even in Greyhawk ).