Comments on: How Much Is a Gold Piece Worth? http://www.d20source.com/2008/04/how-much-is-a-gold-piece-worth A blog for all fans of Dungeons & Dragons. Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:00:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Garan http://www.d20source.com/2008/04/how-much-is-a-gold-piece-worth/comment-page-1#comment-174764 Garan Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:00:33 +0000 http://d20.jonnydigital.com/?p=262#comment-174764 I just approximate a gp as $20, with the idea that it is not pure gold. This accounts for most of what an adventurer would buy (bear in mind that I also assume that most people do not have an income > $20,000 a year in this setting; most are poor farmers). A sword, which costs 15 gp, is then equivalent to $300. A masterwork one adds $6,000 dollars to that amount (sound reasonable?). Since I am the DM, I can shift the prices of other things around, such as a meal, lodging, a house, a horse, etc. Most people do not keep their money on hand, but rather have it in the form of property or equipment. I just approximate a gp as $20, with the idea that it is not pure gold. This accounts for most of what an adventurer would buy (bear in mind that I also assume that most people do not have an income > $20,000 a year in this setting; most are poor farmers). A sword, which costs 15 gp, is then equivalent to $300. A masterwork one adds $6,000 dollars to that amount (sound reasonable?). Since I am the DM, I can shift the prices of other things around, such as a meal, lodging, a house, a horse, etc. Most people do not keep their money on hand, but rather have it in the form of property or equipment.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.d20source.com/2008/04/how-much-is-a-gold-piece-worth/comment-page-1#comment-141492 Anonymous Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:21:43 +0000 http://d20.jonnydigital.com/?p=262#comment-141492 i love gold i love gold

]]> By: Icarus http://www.d20source.com/2008/04/how-much-is-a-gold-piece-worth/comment-page-1#comment-123677 Icarus Sat, 25 Jun 2011 17:06:46 +0000 http://d20.jonnydigital.com/?p=262#comment-123677 Well ... let's see, at the current $1,502 from today's stock market for gold per troy ounce, I believe a pound (avoirdupois) of gold would be about $21,904 ... or at 1/50th of that, roughly $438 per coin. Holy crap. But, that does hold up to a fair $43.8 (equal to a SP) for a daily wage. Granted that's about $5.47 an hour, which is below today's American Federal Minimum Wage, but, 15 maybe 20 years ago, it was close to that. So ... in answer to my question: $500,000 - a smooth half a million - would be about 1,141 gold, and 5 silver. Hmm. Next time my players complain about getting a $1000 GP piece of jewelry as treasure, or they tip their waitress a GP, I think that I'll point this out. Well … let’s see, at the current $1,502 from today’s stock market for gold per troy ounce, I believe a pound (avoirdupois) of gold would be about $21,904 … or at 1/50th of that, roughly $438 per coin. Holy crap.
But, that does hold up to a fair $43.8 (equal to a SP) for a daily wage. Granted that’s about $5.47 an hour, which is below today’s American Federal Minimum Wage, but, 15 maybe 20 years ago, it was close to that.
So … in answer to my question: $500,000 – a smooth half a million – would be about 1,141 gold, and 5 silver.
Hmm. Next time my players complain about getting a $1000 GP piece of jewelry as treasure, or they tip their waitress a GP, I think that I’ll point this out.

]]> By: Icarus http://www.d20source.com/2008/04/how-much-is-a-gold-piece-worth/comment-page-1#comment-123675 Icarus Sat, 25 Jun 2011 16:51:18 +0000 http://d20.jonnydigital.com/?p=262#comment-123675 Hey there ... since gold prices have changed, I was wondering if there was any change to this. It's a fascinating article, and would love to know what the equivalent of say a valuable ring found on a shipwreck worth $500,000 would be in D&D gold pieces. I put a link in for the MSNBC article that spawned my wer-searching today. Hey there … since gold prices have changed, I was wondering if there was any change to this. It’s a fascinating article, and would love to know what the equivalent of say a valuable ring found on a shipwreck worth $500,000 would be in D&D gold pieces.

I put a link in for the MSNBC article that spawned my wer-searching today.

]]> By: Raffmiian http://www.d20source.com/2008/04/how-much-is-a-gold-piece-worth/comment-page-1#comment-117758 Raffmiian Thu, 12 May 2011 00:35:36 +0000 http://d20.jonnydigital.com/?p=262#comment-117758 ok guys i don't know if any of you thought about this but they actually use Gold armor in D&D which means that there gold is a completely different type.... whcih menas there gold is either more dense and or stronger then our gold just a thought for everyone to consider ok guys i don’t know if any of you thought about this but they actually use Gold armor in D&D which means that there gold is a completely different type…. whcih menas there gold is either more dense and or stronger then our gold just a thought for everyone to consider

]]> By: David http://www.d20source.com/2008/04/how-much-is-a-gold-piece-worth/comment-page-1#comment-107025 David Sun, 16 Jan 2011 12:08:50 +0000 http://d20.jonnydigital.com/?p=262#comment-107025 "The basic coins are the copper piece (cp) and the silver piece (sp). These form the backbone of the monetary system and are the coins most frequently found in the hands of the common folk. Above these two coins is the much rarer gold piece (gp). This coin is seldom found in common use and mainly exists on paper as the standard money of account. This means it is used to measure the value of property and goods. Land values, ship cargoes, gemstones, and penalty bonds (royal court fines) are normally calculated in gold pieces, although payment of such vast sums normally takes other forms. In addition to these coins, there are other unusual metals used in exchange. Most of these come from failed currencies. As such, they are viewed with skepticism by many honest folk. Principal among these coins are the electrum (ep) and platinum pieces (pp). These coins are rarely circulated, and most are hidden away in ancient treasure hoards. Copyright 1999 TSR Inc." Looking at the 2E Core Rules from 1999 there are pictures of some of the coins in the program. Copper Piece (CP) = Hexagon Silver Piece (SP) = Octagon Electrum Piece (EP) = Round Gold Piece (GP) = Round Platinum Piece (PP) = Rectangle with angled corners What is difficult is that the D&D coins change in value every edition: Also 0D&D, D&D, AD&D and earlier editions are confirmed to have 10 gp weighing 1 pound as Zadok has stated. This seems to be consistent to roman though medieval coins. 2E and higher went to smaller coins with probably the thought of pennies, nickels, dimes, etc. 3E and above is more for gamer convenience and video game usage. -------------------------------------- 0D&D 50 cp = 10 sp = 2 ep (or .5 ep) = 1 gp = 1/5 pp D&D 50 cp = 10 sp = 2 ep = 1 gp = 1/5 pp AD&D 200 cp = 20 sp = 2 ep = 1 gp = 1/5 pp 2E 100 cp = 10 sp = 2 ep = 1 gp = 1/5 pp 3E 100 cp = 10 sp = xx ep = 1 gp = 1/10 pp 4E 100 cp = 10 sp = xx ep = 1 gp = 1/100 pp = 1/10000 ad My opinion is 2E has the closest exchange rates, with AD&D and earlier having the correct coin sizes. "It is the Dwarves, they melt down any impure coin and remint it to a portable, strong piece of currency which any stable kingdom or trade organization will copy this process." - Unknown Merchant “The basic coins are the copper piece (cp) and the silver piece (sp). These form the backbone of the monetary system and are the coins most frequently found in the hands of the common folk. Above these two coins is the much rarer gold piece (gp). This coin is seldom found in common use and mainly exists on paper as the standard money of account. This means it is used to measure the value of property and goods. Land values, ship cargoes, gemstones, and penalty bonds (royal court fines) are normally calculated in gold pieces, although payment of such vast sums normally takes other forms.

In addition to these coins, there are other unusual metals used in exchange. Most of these come from failed currencies. As such, they are viewed with skepticism by many honest folk. Principal among these coins are the electrum (ep) and platinum pieces (pp). These coins are rarely circulated, and most are hidden away in ancient treasure hoards.
Copyright 1999 TSR Inc.”

Looking at the 2E Core Rules from 1999 there are pictures of some of the coins in the program.

Copper Piece (CP) = Hexagon
Silver Piece (SP) = Octagon
Electrum Piece (EP) = Round
Gold Piece (GP) = Round
Platinum Piece (PP) = Rectangle with angled corners

What is difficult is that the D&D coins change in value every edition: Also 0D&D, D&D, AD&D and earlier editions are confirmed to have 10 gp weighing 1 pound as Zadok has stated. This seems to be consistent to roman though medieval coins. 2E and higher went to smaller coins with probably the thought of pennies, nickels, dimes, etc. 3E and above is more for gamer convenience and video game usage.
————————————–
0D&D
50 cp = 10 sp = 2 ep (or .5 ep) = 1 gp = 1/5 pp

D&D
50 cp = 10 sp = 2 ep = 1 gp = 1/5 pp

AD&D
200 cp = 20 sp = 2 ep = 1 gp = 1/5 pp

2E
100 cp = 10 sp = 2 ep = 1 gp = 1/5 pp

3E
100 cp = 10 sp = xx ep = 1 gp = 1/10 pp

4E
100 cp = 10 sp = xx ep = 1 gp = 1/100 pp = 1/10000 ad

My opinion is 2E has the closest exchange rates, with AD&D and earlier having the correct coin sizes.

“It is the Dwarves, they melt down any impure coin and remint it to a portable, strong piece of currency which any stable kingdom or trade organization will copy this process.” – Unknown Merchant

]]> By: Zadok http://www.d20source.com/2008/04/how-much-is-a-gold-piece-worth/comment-page-1#comment-98496 Zadok Mon, 04 Oct 2010 04:15:29 +0000 http://d20.jonnydigital.com/?p=262#comment-98496 Thank you, Nick, for that overdue correction. It is rather sad that it took more than two years for someone to decide to check the math. At .7mm thick, a GP is less than half the thickness of a quarter (U.S.), which would likely leave you with a pouch full of bent coins. The AD&D coin weights (10 GP/lb) make much better sense. Using a coin diameter of 30mm, the thicknesses of coins would be as listed below: Platinum: 3.0mm Gold: 3.3mm (just over 1/8 inch) Electrum: 4.3mm Since in AD&D 20 SP = 1 GP, not 10 SP = 1 GP as in later versions of the game, assume 20 SP or CP to a pound to keep the exchange rate even. Silver: 3.0mm Copper: 3.6mm Kind of nice how it all just falls into place. Thank you, Nick, for that overdue correction. It is rather sad that it took more than two years for someone to decide to check the math.

At .7mm thick, a GP is less than half the thickness of a quarter (U.S.), which would likely leave you with a pouch full of bent coins.

The AD&D coin weights (10 GP/lb) make much better sense. Using a coin diameter of 30mm, the thicknesses of coins would be as listed below:

Platinum: 3.0mm
Gold: 3.3mm (just over 1/8 inch)
Electrum: 4.3mm

Since in AD&D 20 SP = 1 GP, not 10 SP = 1 GP as in later versions of the game, assume 20 SP or CP to a pound to keep the exchange rate even.

Silver: 3.0mm
Copper: 3.6mm

Kind of nice how it all just falls into place.

]]> By: Nick http://www.d20source.com/2008/04/how-much-is-a-gold-piece-worth/comment-page-1#comment-95453 Nick Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:27:59 +0000 http://d20.jonnydigital.com/?p=262#comment-95453 Actually the coins are very thin. Jonathan's calculation of the face area was off. If you divide 0.94cm2 by pi it equals a radius squared of .3 but the radius squared of a 3cm wide coin is 2.25. Which gives us an area of 7.07cm2. This means the following thicknesses for d&d coinage, all of which are 30mm wide, should be about: Platinum: 0.6mm Gold: 0.7 Electrum: 0.9mm Silver: 1.2mm Copper: 1.4mm Actually the coins are very thin. Jonathan’s calculation of the face area was off. If you divide 0.94cm2 by pi it equals a radius squared of .3 but the radius squared of a 3cm wide coin is 2.25. Which gives us an area of 7.07cm2. This means the following thicknesses for d&d coinage, all of which are 30mm wide, should be about:

Platinum: 0.6mm
Gold: 0.7
Electrum: 0.9mm
Silver: 1.2mm
Copper: 1.4mm

]]> By: Thou Art My FANTASY Comic - A Dollar’s Worth http://www.d20source.com/2008/04/how-much-is-a-gold-piece-worth/comment-page-1#comment-87997 Thou Art My FANTASY Comic - A Dollar’s Worth Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:05:30 +0000 http://d20.jonnydigital.com/?p=262#comment-87997 [...] reading: How much is a D&D gold piece worth? [...] [...] reading: How much is a D&D gold piece worth? [...]

]]> By: Eric Dries http://www.d20source.com/2008/04/how-much-is-a-gold-piece-worth/comment-page-1#comment-73652 Eric Dries Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:32:21 +0000 http://d20.jonnydigital.com/?p=262#comment-73652 I have 2 50 dollar gold pieces and 6 20 gold pieces for sale how much for the lot should i sell them for and by the way they are 24k gold. thank you. I have 2 50 dollar gold pieces and 6 20 gold pieces for sale how much for the lot should i sell them for and by the way they are 24k gold. thank you.

]]>