Gold Piece

the Eagle

The term Gold may technically be a word that describes the metal of the same name, but to most it is synonymous with the coin known as the gold piece. Often abbreviated to 'gp' in writing, the gold piece is one of the three standard coin metals throughout Ethae, along with Silver Piece and Copper Piece, that is used as currency. While silver coins are the most common used in every nation, it is by the value of gold that the silver piece gets its own value. As a standard it takes 10 silver pieces to equal 1 gold.

Unlike the silver piece, with is near universally known as a 'sterling' by all in Ethae, gold coins often have their own name from nations to nation. In most the Heartlands nations the term 'Golden Eagle' (often shortened to 'Eagle') is used. This dates back to the Republic of Lakorth (4491sc-5500sc), which always depicted eagles on their coinage. The generic term 'gold piece' comes from Nopum who call their gold coins 'Pieces.' This also dates back to the Republic of Lakorth when the gold coins produced in Nopum were half the value of a Lakorthian eagle, hence a 'piece of an eagle.' Many other nations of Novyum use birds on their gold coinage, to keep the Lakortha tradition and the prestige it brings but identify themselves as their own nations. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Prydian Rooster. In Anbar it is common to depict the nations ruler on the gold coins face.

Other nonstandard gold coins exist across Ethae. The most common of these is the Lakorthian Double Eagle. The Double Eagle is a thicker coin worth twice the value of a standard Golden Eagle (2gp). The minting of this coin began at the height of the Republic and has remained in circulation since, though in far less quantities. Modern Double Eagles are rarely found outside the city of Lakorth today, however, the one thousand five hundred years of minting these coins finds older versions in various vaults, hordes, and treasures worldwide. The Double Eagle while highly sought after as a storage of wealth item, or by collectors, it is still a currency coin and can be used to buy products in most locations.

Gold as currency is more common in the trade routes throughout the Cota Ocean, between the major continents. Originating from the Dergonhad, the 'Gold Bar' is a strip of gold roughly the size and weight of two Ethae coins, these bars are equal to 20 silver pieces. This has them often cut in half, or into smaller pieces, in many Ethae ports. A second currency of gold used in Dergonhad and the Cota trade is the 'Gold Brick', which is equal to 10 gold bars (or 20 gold pieces).