Coins
Today is the end of Gold Week here at Necromancers of the Northwest, and when I think of gold and Pathfinder, I think of coins, coins, and more coins. Big old heaping piles of coins. So many coins that you don’t know what to do with them, until they become just a number on your sheet.
But coins don’t have to be that way. Coins can be interesting and exciting, and full of mystery and wonder. Of course, it’s not easy coming up with cool designs, stories, and mottos for coins on the spot, so your GM may not appreciate being asked to describe a coin hoard in detail. But then again, if he’s seen some of the coins below, maybe he’s just waiting for a chance to show off.
1. Dragonslayer’s Mark. These platinum coins could originally be obtained only as a bounty for slaying dragons, in a time when dragons were more common, and platinum bought slightly more. Traditionally, a single coin would be paid per dragon egg destroyed, with increasing numbers of coins for more impressive feats of dragonslaying, with the most impressive great wyrms fetching 100 such coins. On one side they feature an image of a dragon’s head, its neck severed from its body, and on the other side, it shows a daring knight with a sword held high and one foot planted on the neck of a defeated dragon.
2. Devil’s Gold. These gold coins have a slightly reddish tint to them, and are said to have been minted in the depths of Hell itself, though in truth, their origin is something of a mystery. On one side, they bear the image of a goblet burning with flame, and the words “With this coin, I thee take” written in Infernal, while on the other side, a leering imp or gargoyle squats and grins, with the words “Doom to he who cheats me” forming a ring around the outside of the coin.
3. Imperial Sovereign. These gold coins, commissioned by an eccentric emperor centuries ago, actually cost much more to create than they are worth. The emperor was frustrated that so many coins in circulation bore the images of his predecessors, and so decided to mint coins that would be magically enhanced to change their appearance to match whoever currently held the throne. As that empire has now fallen, and no one rules it, the coins now show an empty, broken throne on one side, and bear no image at all upon the other, although on the blank side, they bear the words “The Emperor Rules Supreme, the Empire is Forever.”
4. Imperial Citizen. Another idea from the same eccentric emperor, these copper coins are affected with a similar, albeit slightly different magic, which made them ridiculously expensive to produce, considering their value. One side of the copper coin is magically altered to show the face of whoever it is currently possessed by, surrounded by the words duty, honor, virtue, and diligence, forming a ring around the outside. The other side shows a legion of faceless spearmen standing at attention, above the words “Each has a part to play.”
5. Mage’s Mark. These silver coins were minted by a mage’s guild which, for the period of a couple of centuries, enjoyed a special privilege that granted them the right to print their own coinage, until they joined the wrong side of a civil war and had that right stripped from them in the aftermath. One side of the coin features an open book and the words “Knowledge is Power,” in Draconic, while the other side shows an owl perched on a branch, surrounded by the words “Excellence at any Cost.”
6. Efreeti Brass Sovereign. These coins are made from brass, but are generally valued as gold coins everywhere except for the City of Brass on the Plane of Fire, where they are worth twice as much as gold. A wide variety of efreeti brass sovereigns have been printed over the centuries, and the faces of many different efreeti sultans and caliphs can be found on these coins, often surrounded by that particular efreeti royal’s personal motto. The other side shows the famous and unmistakable skyline of the city itself, with its many grand domes and delicate spires.
7. Aboleth Silver. These silver coins serve as gold pieces to the aboleths and those who trade primarily with them, as they consider the metal to be more valuable than gold. One side of the coin shows a swimming aboleth, above the words (written in Aboleth glyphs) “All Hail the Empire Unending,” while the other side shows an army of skum building an underwater pyramid under the watchful eyes of aboleth masters.
8. Rogue’s Coin. These gold coins are neither legal currency nor truly counterfeits, for they were never actually intended to be circulated in the general population or used by anyone who didn’t know what they were. Instead, they were used as a means to prove membership in a thieves’ guild, long ago. That guild was ultimately destroyed by its own success, as it became too large and popular to continue to evade the forces of law, and since, the coins have come to be used as markers to trade favors or services amongst outlaws, as a sort of I.O.U. One side features a cloaked and hooded figure drawing a short, curved dagger, while the other side shows a pair of crossed keys. There are no words on the coin.
9. Four Elements Coin. These copper coins are elegantly engraved with images of the four elements: on one side, a fireball emerges from a roaring wall of flame that encircles half of the coin’s edge, meeting a jet of water in the middle that comes from ocean waves covering the other half of the coin’s circumference. The opposite side features jagged mountain peaks being buffeted by fierce winds and gales. Only four words appear on the coin: etched into the center of each elemental depiction is the word “I” in the appropriate language (Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran). It is widely believed these coins are used by outsiders on the inner planes, but this is false, as the coins were actually minted by an independent mage’s guild.
10. Crystal Coin. Carved laboriously from a single piece of crystal, these commemorative coins are valued as platinum pieces (or sometimes even more highly), and mark the 1,000th anniversary of an ancient empire. They bear the image of the emperor who commissioned them on one side, along with both the year of the empire’s founding and the year of the minting, exactly 1,000 years later, and the words “May peace reign another thousand years.” The back side shows a lightning bolt crossed with a longsword.