The coinage of the west is a complicated and archaic system that is very confusing to most foreigners. Many coins whose worn features are unidentifiable have been in circulation for millenia. Weights and measures have undergone much change and the purity and grade of precious metals have varied from century to century. Thus a shekel minted by God-King Hammi-duszar might be worth only 69 copper Kug, whereas the oversized shekel from the reign of Sin-magir might be the value of 7 Obals. Most merchants and others who often handle coin can readily identify a particular coin and its worth, after all they have been doing it for a lifetime. Others not so savvy, might find that the value of their purse's contents declines everytime a merchant makes change.

In game terms we will only use the basic system and on seemingly random occassions the GM will smite the characters financially on the following basis:

• Loraan- Experiences very few problems.
• Furin and Vainoni- Fine on all routine transactions but as they are unused to handling large sums someone might take advantage of them then.
• Hasmar- Doesn't generally handle his own money and thus has no problem until he tries to.
• Kendrick- Most people are happily taking advantage of this foriegner and he has only recently begun to suspect that it is more than the usual "ripping off the stranger" tactics.

Some Interesting Historical Points:

The use of corrugatted edges on coins has been in place since the earliest of times, possibly learned from the dwarves. This effectively prevents the illegal practise of slightly scraping the edges of many coins to acquire a profitable weight of precious metals.

The Hammi-Duszar Shekel: Identified by the profile of this ancient God-king with the inscription "Justice of the Land" and on the reverse the image of the raised sword of Shamash. This shekel worth only 69 Kug due to the devaluation of the currency by Hammi-Duszar to raise money for his foreign wars, has become the classic "con" to make a few extra kug off of unsuspecting customers. To say of a merchant "He gives the worth of Hammi-Duszar" is to imply miserliness and willingness to give customers cheap quality merchandise.

The Kug: The worth of this copper coin is really only of issue to the very poor. Though there are many many slightly different purities, weights, and issues of this coin, the value remains in the eyes of the populace, "only a kug". Traditionally a kug never bears the visage of a God-King, instead the faces of important Enkenkurs and military heroes grace one side. The other side varies greatly though often it bears the images of animals, zodiacal symbols, and local landmarks.

The Lugal-banda Dayan: This almost legendary mighty warlord from the Time of Many Kings was said to have minted one of the first gold coins used by humanity. Bearing the symbol of his crown on the one side and a mightily bearded profile on the other, it also bears the inscription "He who is without Enemies". This oversized coin is made of extremely pure gold (suggests a dwarven mint) and is worth 1 Dyan 8 shekels. Strangely, it has recently earned the sobriquet "the Eastern Penny" because so many of them have entered circulation from Timoran merchants, possibly because of ancient horde being discovered in Timoro.

The Sin-magir Shekel: The God King Sin-magir was proud of his hunting prowess, so much so that he minted this over-sized shekel to display an extremely detailed lion hunt scene on the face and the image of the Imperial ziggarat on the reverse. It also bears the inscription: "Mightiest of Hunters". It is worth 7 Obals.

Kug-ur: The minting of "hero-coin" is a privilege still allowed to the military households of Eresh, Lugalbanda, Shamshi-adad, Tarquin, and Urnammu. Essentally it is an ingot of a precious metal weigted to the worth of one month's pay for a soldier and stamped with weight, purity and a seal of the household. Easy to encase, transport, and most importantly audit, it often creates problems for soldiers who find it difficult to make change. Many soldiers thus chose to have it distributed directly to their own family, a practice encouraged by the traditional and conservative noble households that still mint the Kug-ur.

The Giskinim or "Note of Demand" is a practice that remains strictly the property of the higer social echelons and otherwise is seen to be an oddity. Conceptually it is nothing more than a note from a recognized financial source that it will pay the bearer the sum it records. The most usual source would be the banks of House Shurrupak, though others include: The God-King's treasury, a major temple, a city state treasury, and any of the other 11 great noble houses. The reason that this remains the province of high society is identification, as a known citizen must vouch for the individual who attempts to redeem it. To the lower classes it is essentially worthless, unless they can sell it to someone who could redeem it. Traditionally the crime of forgery falls under the auspices of the court of the named issuing institution, penalties are thus quite severe.

The Uruk Shekel: Said to be the first silver shekel ever minted (beginning long ago in the Hegemony of Uruk) and has long been the standard value during its continuous minting. If one were to look at the coins in a purse it is most likely that this shekel will make up the majority of the contents as it is by far the most common. The variance in its purity and weight has always been held to a minimum and this coin is held to be an excellent standard of value. On the face it bears the image of of the goddess Inanna an on the reverse a representation of the ancient ziggurat at the heart of the city.

The Relocation Shekel: The God-King Itomas has minted this shekel to provide funds to families that wish to relocate to Lopan. On one side is a smiling happy family of parents and three children embracing before the ziggurat of the Path of Supplication. On the obverse is a gracious benevolent face of Itomas. It is minted to perhaps the most exacting weight specifications to date and is worth exactly 1 shekel.

Exchanging Currencies: A traveller in Ashur will find that most businesses in the Great Market, Dockside, and the Wharves are happy to accept other coinage at a rate most disadvantageous to the traveller. There are businesses (mostly owned by House Shurrupak) devoted solely to the exchange of foreign currency and it is here that more favorable rates may be had. However, this is a private enterprise and not everyone gets the same rates. Merchants who have done business with the house for years receive special treatment and new merchants off the street still receive better treatment than the lone traveller. It is rare to see foreign currency in use in the West as it is mostly bought up or exchanged on arrival.