Coins of The Realms

Coins of The Realms

Cormyr
The royal coinage of Cormyr is stamped with a dragon on the obverse and a treasury date mark on the reverse.
There is no paper currency other than I.O.U.s which are known as "blood-notes" because they must be signed in blood by all parties involved and taken to the local Lord for the affixing of the royal seal.
Although gold coins, the most common coin used by adventurers, are often called golden lions throughout the Realms, only the Cormyan coins are actually stamped with the figure of a lion.

Platinum "tricrown"
Gold "lions"
Electrum "blue eyes"
Silver "falcons"
Copper "thumbs"

Platinum coins are called tricrowns, plats, or pearls (in particular the Southern versions, which are officially named roldons).

Amn
Platinum “roldon”
Gold "danters"
Electrum "centaurs"
Silver "tarans"
Copper "fanders"

Calimshan
Electrum "tazos" and "zonths"
Silver "decarches", "espedrilles", and "red worms"
Copper "unarches", "radas", "niftens", and "spanners"

Calimshan make silver decarches, espedrilles, and the ochre-tinted red worm of Memnon. Red worms are cast from silver and then coated with a dye. Old coins with the dye worn off are called "skinned worms".
Calimshan also produces copper unarches, radas, niftens, and spanners.

Sembia
The Sembian silver piece is triangular-shaped.

Gold “nobles”
Electrum "blue eyes" (diamond-shaped)
Silver "hawks" “ravens”
Iron "steelpence" (cp)

Sembian silver hawks are triangular in shape.
The triangular silver coin of Sembia is called a raven. The five-sided gold coin is called a noble. Iron steelpence are sometimes used instead of copper pieces.

Cormyrian falcons and Sembian hawks are used interchangeably. Sembian gold coin designs vary from year to year but are always a distinguishing five-sided shape.

Sembia also released a square iron coin called the steelpence which is similar in value to the copper. The Sembian steelpence was introduced by the Sembian government to replace the silver piece, but it was overproduced and its value has since dropped to 1cp.
Sembia produced no platinum coins but readily accepted those of other nations.
Trade bars from Sembia are ingot-shaped silver bars dotted with copper and the Sembian symbol. They are considered "face value" and typically come in 5, 10, 25, and 50gp denominations.

Shaar
Shaar Rings are made of sliced and bored ivory and hung on long strings by the plainsmen of Shaar. Rings wareere found in bundles, and each ring is worth 3gp each.

Shou Lung
Shou Lung copper is any copper coin which is not immediately recognizable, and therefore declared to come from the mystical East and given a value of 1cp.
Only a small number of these coins actually come from Shou Lung, or any of the Kara-Tur nations, but the name stuck.
Shou Lung silver is similar: any unknown or badly worn silver coin given a value of 1sp.
Trade bars from Shou Lung are slender bars of silver, definitely oriental in origin, that have made their way to the West.
Shou Lung trade bars are worth about 40gp each.

Silverymoon
The electrum moon of Silverymoon is worth 5sp throughout the Realms but double that in the Silver Marches.
Platinum "unicorn"
Gold "dragons"
Electrum "swords"
Silver "shields"
Copper "glints"

In addition to these coins, Silverymoon also mints the crescent-shaped electrum "moon", valued at 2 unicorns (or 1 unicorn outside of Silverymoon); and the round "eclipsed moon", rated at 5 unicorns in Silverymoon and 2 unicorns elsewhere.

Tethyr
Due to upheaval in Tethyr during the Interregnum period (The Dark Days of Elient) Tethyan gulders, moelans, myrats, and zonths are only worth 60–90% of their usual value.

Tethyr makes use of two-gold-piece coins called "brakar". They also produce trade rings in 20-, 50-, and 100-gold-piece weights.

Tharsult
Tharsult Statues are small art objects used in trade. They are made of ivory, jade, or serpentine and are used as coinage in that region. Most of these that reach the North are treated as curios and are worth around 15gp.
In their native land they are worth about 5gp each.

Zakhara
Gold "dinars"
Silver "dirham"
Copper "bits"

Waterdeep
In Waterdeep a toal is a coin that is worth 2gp in the city but practically worthless outside the city. The toal is a square brass coin with a hole in the center to allow it to be strung on a string. A shard is the Waterdhavian term for a silver piece. Copper pieces are called nibs, gold pieces are called dragons and platinum pieces are called suns.
Like Silverymoon, Waterdeep also mint special coins: the square brass "taol" is worth 2 dragons, but has no value elsewhere, so they are usually exchanged when one leaves the city; and the palm-sized crescent-shaped platinum "harbor moon", inset with electrum, is rated 50 dragons in the city, or 30 dragons everywhere else. Both coins have holes to allow them to be stacked in strings.

Platinum "sun"
Gold "dragons"
Electrum "sambar"
Silver "shards"
Copper "nibs"

Zhentil Keep
Platinum glory ("flat metal gem")
Gold "glories" ("weeping wolves")
Electrum "tarenth" ("hardhammers")
Silver "talons/naal" ("flea-bits")
Copper "fangs" ("dung-pieces")


Other Currency
Gond bells were introduced by the Lantanese and used in regions of the North, in particular in trade between worshipers of Gond. The small brass bells encloses a loose ornamental stone which causes it to clatter. Each is worth 10gp on the open market or 20gp if traded to a church of Gond.

Paper Currency

Mercenary Cards are small cards of parchment about the size of a Talis card, marked on one side with the symbol of a particular mercenary company. The reverse is usually a handwritten scrawl from the troop's paymaster authorizing payment.
These became currency by being found in loot caches, won in card games, or stolen from the unwary.

Blood notes are scrolls, letters, or other carvings representing I.O.U.s and promissory notes from the listed person(s) to the holder of the note. Blood notes can be offered by individuals, adventuring companies, or countries and cities to cover debts. In common usage the debtor is legally obligated to pay when the note is presented. Blood notes from deceased individuals are not binding.

Bela is paper money used by barbarian tribes to the east in Kara-Tur. In western Realms it is worthless and occasionally offered as an insult.

A Letter of Trade is similar to a Blood Note and calls for a delivery of a particular item or items to the bearer.

Trade Bars
Trade bars from merchants are thin silver bars marked at one end with the value, typically 10, 20, or 50gp though greater values are available, and the other end has the symbol of the trading institution or coster which created it.
An increasing number of these bars bear the mint mark of Baldur's Gate. Trade bars of the Iron Throne trading group are not honored by other trading organizations because this group is considered disreputable.
Broken trade bars have no value but most merchants will continue to honor the trade bars of defunct institutions.

Trade bars from Lantan are flat envelope-shaped bars of worked steel marked with the great wheel of Gond. They are worth 20gp each and used primarily along the Sword Coast.

Trade bars from (Mirabar) are made of black iron and shaped like rectangular spindles. They are worth 10gp in Mirabar and 5gp in the rest of the Realms.