Table of Contents

Money & Barter

Currency across the known world of Apocalyptica Arcanum remains remarkably standardized despite fractured nations, corporate dominions, and shifting borders. While governments rise and fall, gold endures. Trade survives not through trust in rulers, but through trust in weight, metal, and measurable value.

Following The Meteor, global economies collapsed alongside traditional banking institutions. Paper currencies rapidly became worthless as issuing governments vanished, trade routes failed, and inflation spiraled beyond control. In the decades that followed, merchants, expedition companies, mining syndicates, and surviving nation-states independently returned to a system already understood across cultures: Precious metal by weight.

The Persistence of the Gold Standard

Gold proved uniquely suited for reconstruction-era commerce:

By 120 A.M., most surviving trade powers informally adopted a shared metallic currency system derived from pre-Meteor coinage standards such as the British Sovereign, American Double Eagle, and French Franc. Rather than creating new monetary systems, merchants and governments alike standardized exchange around familiar weights of precious metal already trusted across the world.

Over centuries this practice stabilized into the modern denominations now recognized nearly everywhere civilized trade exists. While pre-Meteor coinage still circulates in rare cases, most surviving examples have passed out of commerce entirely, finding their way into private collections, museum vaults, or long-sealed treasuries awaiting rediscovery.

Even isolated settlements recognize gold value, making coinage one of the few truly global constants remaining in the world.

Standard Coinage

Coin Abbreviation Relative Value Typical Material
Copper Piece CP 1 Copper
Silver Piece SP 10 CP Silver
Gold Piece GP 10 SP Gold
Platinum Piece PP 10 GP Platinum

Coins are typically stamped by regional authorities, corporations, or guild mints, but value derives from metal weight, not issuing body.

It is common to see mixed coinage in circulation bearing dozens of different insignias.

Magic Item Valuation by Rarity

Item Rarity Typical Gold Value Shardisite Requirement
Common 25 – 100 GP Dust
Uncommon 100 – 500 GP Chip
Rare 500 – 5,000 GP Shard
Very Rare 5,000 – 50,000 GP Stone
Legendary 50,000 – 500,000+ GP Ingot or greater
Artifact Priceless Heart or Corona

While magical items are theoretically priceless relics of arcane craftsmanship, centuries of industrial artificery and Shardisite refinement have led to broadly accepted market valuations based on reliability, stability, and refinement cost.

These values represent legal commercial pricing within civilized markets. Black-market acquisition, corporate restriction, or historical provenance may dramatically alter final cost.

Purchasing Power & Shardisite Equivalency

Gold Value Item or Service Shardisite Equivalent
1 CP Simple meal ingredient n/a
2 CP Loaf of bread / street food n/a
5 CP Ale or cheap drink n/a
5 SP Night in common lodging n/a
5 GP Quality tools or clothing 1oz Dust
10 GP Skilled worker daily wage 10oz Dust
50 GP High quality weapon 1 Chip
100 GP 1 month rent (comfortable) 2 Chips
500 GP Small merchant wagon 1 Shard
1,000 GP Urban apartment 2 Shards
2,500 GP Small property 5 Shards
5,000 GP Industrial property 1 Stone
10,000 GP Modest estate 2 Stones
50,000 GP Large scale property 10 Stones
75,000 GP Merchant sloop 1 Ingot
100,000 GP Sloop class airship 2 Ingots
500,000 GP Frigate class airship 5 Ingots
1,000,000 GP Galleon class airship 1 Heart
5,000,000 GP Mercenary batallion* 2 Hearts
10,000,000 GP Capital-class Zeppelin 3 Hearts
15,000,000 GP Major corporate infrastructure 4 Hearts
25,000,000 GP Mercenary armada* 1 Corona
*estimate for a 1 year campaign deployment

While not formal currency, Shardisite represents the single most valuable trade substance in existence.

Unlike gold, Shardisite is:

As a result, raw Shardisite functions less as money and more as strategic commodity wealth, comparable to pre-Meteor oil reserves. Small stabilized fragments are sometimes traded privately among artificers, corporations, or smugglers.

The table provides a practical reference for converting common wealth, goods, services, and large assets into approximate gold-standard value and their rough Shardisite trade equivalency.

Shardisite rarely functions as currency. Instead, merchants, corporations, and artificers informally compare value against stabilized quantities of refined material. Shardisite prices are rarely public. Possession alone may attract corporate attention, confiscation, or violence.

Corporate and Frontier Currency

In remote regions, especially mining territories and company towns, alternative payment methods appear:

Such currencies rarely travel far beyond their place of origin and are usually converted back into precious metal when possible.

Barter Economy

Outside major trade routes, barter remains common. Frequently accepted trade goods include:

In desperate regions, survival goods may temporarily exceed gold in perceived value.

Useful Guidelines for Play

Gold buys comfort. Shardisite buys power.