Hop
The Hop is the second most valuable denomination of currency used within the Grand Duchy of Canyndor, and the most valuable to be based on a silver coin. The Hop was derived as a coin to reduce the strain on silver caused by other minting production, though of a silver base itself, its value would be greatly enhanced by the dosing of Juolina (platinum) that would be added to it. The idea to dose the silver with Joulina came about through Grand Duke Armas II, though the idea was not an original one. The dosing of silver with Joulina had long been a practice in the Duchy of the Dales where Joulina had long been produced as a byproduct of the Myrkorine (Cobalt) mines there. Till that point, Joulina dosed silver coins had been used in the Grand Duchy but they were simply re-minted versions of Dales coinage, much to the annoyance of the Dalish nobility. Armas II would bring about the import and local excavation for Joulina that would see such coins minted independently.
As seen in the displayed image, the Hop was a large coin and thus allowed for the Grand Dukes who had them minted to adorn them with many designs. As seen with a Hop minted under Grand Duke Joonas II, symbols of his guardian god Aakomet are seen on the top-right while a sun signifying the Ilkitala Dynasty is present in the bottom left. Another important inclusion is that of the minting location, Ilpamett, which is significant as due to the great value of the Hop coin, Ilpamett was the only minting location that Hop was permitted to be made. Due to the dense forest location, Ilpamett was seen as an ideal location to keep such value. Pilkala, while a highly defensible location, was seen as too urban with far too many greedy hands and prying eyes.
The Hop as a coin is one that is only truly used by the Grand Duke as a means of paying great debt or for mass projects. The value of the coin is such that just one coin could pay for a man to be kitted out in full plate armour. Such is the tradition in the Grand Duchy, of incredibly valuable coins of little use.
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