Currency

Commoner Currency

City-states generally all share the same lowest common denominator as currency, the chip or ceramic piece. A single chip represents about a week's wages for a low-born worker or well-to-do slave. It is a circle piece of hardened ceramic with a square hole cut in the middle. Their name comes from the fact they often chip and break over time; broken chips, sometimes called flakes, are traded by the absolutely destitute and can range anywhere from half to 1/10th of a chip, although they are not considered an official denomination. Larger denominations are often tied off through the middle square holes with a piece of colored twine (often only provided by moneychangers) corresponding to the value: gray for a cylinder, brown for a stack, and red for a brick.

• 1 chip = Lowest demonimation
• 1 cylinder = 25 chips 
• 1 stack = 50 chips
• 1 brick = 100 chips

For the purposes of carrying, chips weigh 1lb for every 200. 

Trade House Currency

For the rich and noble of the trade houses business is conducted with more resilient forms of wealth: metal coins. The lowest and most common of these are copper. Due to the rarity of metallic coins, the conversion of these coins is not exact when relating to ceramic or to other metal coins. However, a monthly tribune of trade houses does set metal rates for all trades for the month. Directly exchanging coins for ceramic or vice-versa is difficult and may draw attention. In addition, each metal coin is stamped with the face of the city-state in which it was minted; sometimes, a particular city-state and denomination paring is considered more valuable due to its rarity. These are the current standards:

• 1 copper ~ 22 chips = a week's wages for a trade house servant
• 1 brass = 5 copper ~ 110 chips
• 1 silver = 8 copper ~ 176 chips
• 1 gold = 10 silver ~ 2200 chips

For the purposes of carrying, coins weigh 1lb for every 25.
Trade houses and the richest folk will also deal in rare gems. Gems are often less rare than metal on Athas, but are in higher demand, and seen as a longer-lasting form of investment. The value of gems is a direct conversion from base dnd. The gold value shown is instead that gem's approximate value in chips. Just like coins and chips are difficult to interchange, so are gems. Thus, the three, chips, coins, and gems make up the basis of the Athasian currency and are supplemented by a robust bartering system.