Re: Florin

Someone wrote:

> > ObConlang:  What do y'all call currencies in your languages, if
> > any such exist?
Money in general is _vensin_, literally "collection of silver
things"; _vensen_ is the generic word for "silver piece". There's no
actual coin called _vensen_: the most widely used silver coin is
_tavensen_ "little silver piece" which I usually render as
"shilling". It's worth eight pence. A labourer earns one or two
shillings a day and his dinner, a skilled workman about six shillings
a day. A night in an inn with a simple breakfast can be got for
two or three shillings.

Most day-to-day payments are in copper if very small, in silver if
larger. Gold coins exist but most people have never seen one.

The smallest coin is the (copper) halfpenny, sometimes literally a
penny cut in half, more often a thin thumbnail-sized copper coin. A
penny is slightly larger, about half an inch in diameter. Fourpence
is enough to have a letter read to you by a luchan so galan. A
fourpenny piece, half a shilling (_tavensen ile_) is usually silver,
though it can be copper.

Each town mints its own shillings, usually of low-grade silver. They
typically have the town crest or device on one side, and something
arbitrary changing every few years on the other, usually including
the words _tavensen chan_ ("one shilling") and the name of the town.
Some towns have two-, five- and/or ten-shilling pieces.

A rider (_bornan_, a large silver coin, about an inch and a half
across and thin enough to roll up) is worth 20 shillings. Riders are
struck by the reigning monarch's mint-masters in Valdis and Ildis.
The 'heads' side has the King's or Queen's head and the words "...,
Valdyis valan" ("..., King/Queen of Valdyas") on it, the 'tails' side
a horseman (hence the name 'rider').

Most large payments are in riders. A well-schooled scribe can earn 1
to 3 riders a week.

Crowns (_valsin_, also used meaning 'big money') are gold coins about
half an inch in diameter, worth 20 riders, with a crown on the
reverse side and still the King's or Queen's head on the 'heads'
side; they're very rare. Even more rare are 'eagles' (_orla_) and
'double eagles' (iyorla) with one or two eagles on the tails side,
worth 6 and 12 crowns respectively.

   Irina

--
           Varsinen an laynynay, saraz no arlet rastynay.
irina@valdyas.org (myself)     http://www.valdyas.org/irina/valdyas