RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes

Sounsyy · **04-07-2015, 01:03 PM**

(04-07-2015, 12:26 PM)Cassandra Lachance Wrote: The official currency of Eorzea is gil, and it exists only in the form of coins, no paper money. Correct? Are there alternative currencies though? Allagan pieces, for instance.

Secondly, what about safekeeping? There seems to be no banking system within the lore of the game, as far as I can tell. It all goes through retainers.

Excellent questions! Let's start with gil.

Gil is the common currency of Eorzea first minted and adopted shortly after the Autumn War 100 years ago to commemorate the first formation of the Eorzean Alliance. Massive history lesson aside, the Alliance opened up trade between the five city-states for the first time in history and to more easily facilitate trade, they created gil as the common currency. Gil is made from copper and appears to only come in coin form. However (although it's never stated in lore or game and is mostly headcanon) gil pieces may come in various sizes and shapes to denote various denominations. So that people don't have to literally drag around ten million pennies everywhere they go.

A long while back I made a POST on gil lore, its origins, and the depictions on its face and whatnot. I'll spoiler the text below:

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Gil Lore

(10-03-2014, 12:17 PM)Sounsyy Wrote:
Quote:The currency now commonly referred to as â€œgilâ€ was officially adopted by the city-states of Eorzea roughly one-hundred years ago, as a means to strengthen trade relations in the wake of the Autumn War.

Prior to this, each city-state minted and regulated its own currency, which led to unpredictable exchange rates and prompted many traders to use ancient Allagan pieces in lieu of other coinage. Recognizing the wisdom of the practice (and desiring greater control over the money supply), the leaders of Eorzea announced the creation of new gil, and further decreed that its value would be standardized across all nations. Moreover, to help encourage adoption, it was designed in the image of its precursors.

Initially, as an expression of solidarity, these coins were to be engraved with images of the Twelve, rather than those of individuals beloved of a single nation. As time passed and the gil rose to prominence, however, the policy was relaxed, and the coin came to bear an ever increasing variety of motifs. Those minted to commemorate the reformation of the Eorzean Alliance are a notable example from recent years.

But to finally answer the question which prompted this discussion: the face on the gil coin icon in the UI is that of Nymeia, the Spinner. For simplicityâ€™s sake, weâ€™ve elected to represent all gil with this graphic.
-Source

So gil coins are engraved with the faces of the Twelve as well as the leaders of the Eorzean city-states for the past 100 years. 5 years ago, new gil was put into circulation bearing the profiles of the three Grand Company leaders for promotional purposes.

As for what metal gil is made out of, I defer to this:

Quote:Copperfish
The copperfish's dull orange scales - a hue rare in freshwater wavekin - make this species popular amongst Ul'dahn nobles, who apparently prefer even their fish the color of their coin. Not native to Eorzea, it is believed the first copperfish were brought to the realm by Far East traders.

So... copper?

Also, in regards to the fact that we can still turn in Allagan pieces found in dungeons for gil exchange, I imagine there are still places in the world (possibly black market) which would accept Allagan minted pieces as acceptable exchange.

Also, each Beast Tribe has their own form of currency. So if your character does trade with the Beast Tribes, you might also have a stash of their currencies.

Allagan Piece
Currency minted in the Third Astral Era by the Allagan Empire.

Ixali Knot
A carved piece of wood used as currency by the Ixal.

Sylphic Leaf
A decaying leaf used as currency by the Sylphs.

Titan Piece
A crude piece of flattened metal used as currency by the kobolds of O'Ghomoro.

Psashp
A colored shell used as currency by the Sahagin.

Amalj'ok
A small, curved blade used as currency by the Amalj'aa.

Ququroon Doom-die
A tiny die used as currency by the Qiqirn.

Gagaroon Luck-die
A tiny die used as currency by the Qiqirn.

Peperoon Fate-die
A tiny die used as currency by the Qiqirn.

Gobcog
A tiny, multi-toothed cog widely used by goblins as currency.

EDIT: Oh! Also I found this:

Quote:Ignus Snail
The fiery red shells of this freshwater snail, also known as "Ifrit's claws," are prized by the Amalj'aa, and are useful when bartering with the beast tribe.

As for banks, I honestly couldn't tell you. However, there's several references in game to individual NPCs with very large sums of gil to their name. Where do they store this? Obviously there must be somewhere. The Syndicate boasts the six most wealthy individuals in Ul'dah. The Platinum Mirage is an exclusive club and gambling hall that stores and circulates money. The Manderville Gold Saucer must have a vault for their gil? During the MSQ Alphinaud requests money from various Consortiums to fund his Crystal Braves.

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There are accountants and retainers in game who keep tabs on this money and transfer like Tataru. So clearly there must be some storage for all this gil circling. We just, as players, don't get to see it or be privy to it.

The Ashcrown Consortium, for instance, monitors all trade and purchases of crystals and shards. There's actually a limit to how many crystals a single person or entity may purchase at a time. If Revenant's Toll ships Ice Crystals to Ishgard, the Ashcrown Consortium is aware and approved of the transaction. So... if there's a Consortium which monitors crystal distribution. I can guarantee there's one for gil as well.

Anyways, hope this helps! ^^

Money - A Lore Question

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes