Money exists in Aletheia for the same reason it exists anywhere else: people need a way to measure value when barter becomes inconvenient.

The everyday foundation of the economy is the silver penny. Most wages, rents, taxes, and ordinary transactions are measured in silver. Gold exists, but rarely appears in ordinary life. Copper coins exist in some regions but are inconsistent and often local.

In practice, most people think about money in terms of what a day of work is worth.

The Silver Penny

The silver penny (sp) is the standard coin used across most of Aletheia.

It represents roughly the daily wage of a common labourer. This makes it an intuitive unit for pricing goods and services. When people talk about cost, they often do so in terms of how many days of work something represents.

Examples:

• a loaf of bread might cost a small fraction of a penny

• a meal at a tavern might cost several fractions of a penny

• a night’s lodging might cost about a penny

• professional equipment may cost dozens or hundreds of pennies

Silver coins circulate widely through markets, trade routes, guild payments, and taxes.

Because silver is valuable enough to represent real labour but common enough to circulate, it forms the practical backbone of the economy.

Silver was often cut into half or quarters and very occasionally into eighths. The term ‘silver bit’ has come to mean 1/8th of a silver coin. Or, just a ‘bit’. You might hear someone at a market offer to pay four bits for something rather than half a silver.

Copper Coinage

Copper coins exist but are not universal.

Some city-states, merchant leagues, or trade hubs mint copper coinage to simplify very small transactions. These coins often function as convenient “small change” for everyday purchases.

Where copper is used, the common accounting relationship is:

8 copper = 1 silver penny

In practice, copper coins are often:

• local in circulation

• minted irregularly

• sometimes replaced by tokens or tallies

Many rural regions simply conduct small transactions through barter or by rounding values to the nearest practical amount.

Gold Coinage

Gold coins exist across most kingdoms and major trade networks, but they are rare in ordinary commerce.

Gold is primarily used for:

• large mercantile transactions

• noble or royal payments

• military contracts

• international trade

• long-distance wealth storage

A commonly recognized relationship is:

20 silver pennies = 1 gold coin

However, most people rarely handle gold. A village farmer may live an entire life without ever holding a gold coin.

Gold is therefore less a daily currency and more a store of wealth and instrument of large trade.

Wages and Everyday Income

Most people measure value in relation to daily labour.

Typical benchmarks:

Common labourer

• earns roughly 1 silver penny per day

This includes workers such as:

• farm laborers

• porters

• dock workers

• basic servants

Many peasants technically earn less coin than this because much of their income comes in the form of food, land access, or other necessities rather than silver.

Skilled workers

Skilled craftsmen earn significantly more.

Examples include:

• smiths

• carpenters

• masons

• professional soldiers

• experienced sailors

Such workers may earn several silver pennies per day, depending on demand and reputation.

Masters and specialists

Highly skilled artisans, successful merchants, and professional experts can earn substantially more. In these cases wealth begins to accumulate in silver savings or gold coin.

At the highest levels of society — major merchants, nobles, and powerful guild masters — wealth is measured in gold and land rather than wages.

Prices and Value

Because the silver penny represents a day of labor, many prices scale naturally from that reference point.

For example:

• a tool might cost several days of work

• a weapon might cost several weeks

• armor might cost months or even years of wages

People rarely think of prices as abstract numbers. Instead they instinctively translate them into labor and time.

If something costs thirty silver pennies, most people immediately understand that it represents roughly a month of labor.

Regional Differences

Although the silver standard is widespread, coinage varies between regions.

Differences may include:

• local coin designs

• slightly different weights of silver

• regional copper coinage

• trade tokens issued by guilds or cities

Merchants and money-changers are therefore common in major markets. Their job is to weigh coins, test silver purity, and convert foreign currency into locally accepted forms.

For most ordinary transactions, however, the silver penny remains the shared reference point.

Wealth in Practice

The majority of people in Aletheia live close to subsistence. A steady income of a silver penny per day represents stability, not prosperity.

Real wealth appears when individuals control:

• land

• trade networks

• guild monopolies

• large quantities of silver or gold

Gold coins are therefore less a daily currency and more a symbol of serious economic power.

Most people will never need them.

In Summary

The economy of Aletheia is built around a simple foundation:

• silver is the standard coin

• copper is occasional small change

• gold is rare and used for large wealth

In everyday terms, the value of most things can be understood through a single question:

How many days of work is it worth?

That answer usually comes out in silver.