Minters of Metal

The Minters of Metal are one of the eight "member" organisations of the Commercial Guilds which operate in the Eleven Cities surrounding the Sea of Jars. Operating in all eleven cities, they assay the purity of precious and semi-precious metals used as currencies in the cities, including the scrip issued by the Guilds, and are therefore regarded as more or less essential to ongoing commerce.

History

The use of precious and semi-precious metal coins in the Eleven Cities predates recorded history, and the respective currencies of the various cities are frequently espoused as manifestations of local culture. This second point was not always the case, however, as the coins frequently needed to be exchanged in foreign ports where their value, notionally manifested in their metal content, could not always be counted upon. Accusations of counterfeiting and debasing were common and frequently complicated important transactions. This became especially problematic in the insular cities of Tyros and Dyqamay, which developed populations beyond what the farmland on the local islands could actually support. This made the easy flow of traded foodstuffs an urgent concern.
"Testers" who purported to possess the metallurgical skill to test coins without destroying them quickly became a fixture around most ports, especially those of the insular cities. Such actors did good business but were not especially well-regarded as few of their claims could be definitively verified, a point highlighted by the fact that different testers could supply different results from testing the same coins. According to the post-Wesmodian tradition of the Commercial Guilds it was in Dyqamay that the clerics of Zargyod stepped in to solve this problem. Zargyod's connection to metals gave them both an interest in the fidelity of society's perception of the substances and the authority to arbitrate their use, while the cult's growing involvement in civil society and business created a clear precedent to involve themselves in such earthly affairs. Over the course of the early last century BWR the cultists in the insular cities therefore began issuing licenses to the testers. Over time religious endorsement of the tester's activities turned them into a respected and indispensable, if not always actively liked, part of business in the insular cities, and the practice spread to other urban centres around the Sea of Jars.
Somewhat paradoxically, the unrest created by Wesmodian Reformation strengthened the credibility of the licenses. In the absence of the social direction provided by religion the populations of the cities put greater trust in those people and institutions who could provide earthly security, which included the testers who could keep business running and food moving into cities where it might otherwise not do so. As such the involvement of the clerics of Zargyod in granting these licenses played a significant role in the transition of their organisation into the secular Commercial Guilds, providing an (at least somewhat) esteemed social service for them to perform in the absence of their traditional religious duties. In the northern cities of Oluz and Halumay the testers became wholly absorbed into the clerical hierarchy, functioning out of offices in the temple compounds of Zargyod, while in Chogyos the reliability of the testers granted credibility to the decision by a large group of testers to band together and suggest they take over responsibility for actually minting the city's coinage. As society emerged from the turmoil caused by the Reformation, therefore, the testers had gone from being rather doubtful figures to reputable forces for stability.
As the guild system was increasingly popularised in subsequent years, these testers became the first major group to be endorsed by the Commercial Guilders as a 'member guild.' For a number of years there was a degree of confusion as to the Minter's precise position in relation to the wider guild structure as there was as yet no clear precedent for this arrangement; it was not clear whether the Minters were a separate organisation within the Commercial Guilds or a department of the larger group. Members of the group in Oluz and Halumay took advantage of this uncertainty, agitating for restored independence from the former clerisy, and their success in establishing this created a precedent which led to the codification of 'member status' as a recognised and advantageous organisational position within an institution gradually growing into its fundamentally secular role.

Current activities

The Minters of Metal oversee the integrity of the coinage used in international commerce over the Sea of Jars. Because none of the Eleven Cities can do without sea trade, the Minters operate in all these ports, with their office in Andymalon being the only permanent outpost of the Commercial Guilds in that most isolationist of cities. Anybody suspicious of the quality or provenance of a coin they have been passed may visit the office of the Minters of Metal and have the dubious item tested by means of metallurgic analysis. Results usually become available in a matter of minutes. The Minters have no enforcement apparatus of their own but their analysis is generally regarded as authoritative by those who possess coercive leverage, partly due to the guild's open and cordial communications with such groups. Each regional office also cultivates a widespread network of contacts throughout the city and can have word of a counterfeiter or debaser of coinage all over a port in a matter of days. Anybody attempting such a scam is well-advised to have a permanent route of urgent departure from the city open to them in a matter of days.
In Chogyos, Ramoros, Loros, Oluz and Halumay the Minters actually operate the local mint. This arrangement originated in the northern cities, where pre-Wesmodian testers were incorporated into this field of government, and spread to Loros to compensate for the breakdown of civil authority in the city during the Wesmodian Reformation. The Commercial Guilds quickly granted the right to mint new coins to their member organisation when they took over the government of Chogyos a century later, and the practice then spread to Ramoros. Attempts have been made to effect this transition in Elpaloz and Tyros, though so far without success.
The result of the coinage of five of the eleven cities being produced by the same institution is that the Guild honour has become something of an international currency around the Sea of Jars. The relative assurance that this coin is of consistent value, the endorsement of the Commercial Guilds, and the fact that any suspect coins can be assayed in moments by the Minters make it an attractive option for merchants. It is the preferred coinage in every port district around the seas, though it is less well-regarded inland (though inter-city tensions make it problematic in Andymalon and Pholyos). The other six cities continue to mint their own currency, and the Minters will happily assay them, although senior operatives of the Commercial Guilds have recently begun pushing for the adoption of the Guild honour as a universal currency.