Currency in Juhnvechteya

*Part of Numismatics of Juhnvechteya*

Currency is an essential part of life in Juhnvechteya; everyone handles money each day of their lives there. Such currency takes the form of metal coinage, and almost every state mints it’s own local variety. However, there are a few common denominations throughout the continent, found in the pocketbooks of commoners and counts alike.

Several hundred years ago, when the kingdom of Grander Joraje was preeminent throughout Juhnvechteya, King Wenselsos issued The Coin Decree. This was an effort to standardize coinage across the large kingdom, which spanned from Cinelli in the north, to Brankonya in the south.

#### Divisions of the Coin Decree

The Coin Decree dictated that all currency in the realm ought to be based on a pound of silver. This silver would then be divided into 240 small coins of pure silver, weighing about 1.7 grams, known to the Vechts as a pfennig.

The coin decree also created another coin, titled the schilling. This was a silver coin worth 1/20th of a pound of silver, and worth 12 pfennige. It was made of about 20.3 grams of pure silver.

In the Kingdom of Grander Joraje, only silver coins were struck, and only silver was valid. However, by the Ducal Period of the kingdom, there was another coin introduced, known to the Vechtese as the Pfund. It was made of approximately 20 grams of pure gold.

### Modern Juhnvechtese currency

After the collapse of order after the fall of Grander Joraje, most coinage production ceased as the Anarchy began. Following the stabilization of the region, minting of coin resumed, though without the watchful eyes of the King of Joraje, moneyers and counterfeiters alike began to debase the currency, particularly the smaller silver pfennig.

As time went on, the Pfennig fell out of use by merchants, who saw it as worth little note, though some realms began minting copper pfennige, and the copper pfennig has remained a stable of the region since.

While some rulers continued minting silver pfennige, others saw fit to create their own coin to replace the debased one. Thus, regional variants began to appear, such as the Groschen and the Thaler, officially worth between 10 and 20 copper pfennige each. However, these are still heavily counterfeited.

As the pfennig became devalued and was minted in copper, smaller copper coins were needed to subdivide it. From this comes the habpfennig and the drepfennig, a 1/2 and 1/3 pfennig coin. They are made with the amount of copper relative to the pfennig which they are worth.

Naturally, the accountants of the nobility and clergy disliked having to use such large coins as the pfund, so they introduced a smaller gold coin, called the Mark, which represents a mark (1/3 a pound) of silver. This is made with about 6.3 grams of gold, and enables more accurate accounting of large sums of money.

Furthermore, many regions and towns produce their own local coin. These include but are not limited to: the Raner, a large silver coin, the Kirž, made of electrum, and the Hardischer Mark, a gold coin. However, what is listed above is the most common denominations and values of coins found throughout Juhnvechteya.