Money in the Grave New World

A quick guide to currencies in the Witch Hunter: The Invisible World game.
By Walt Ciechanowski

For simplicity’s sake, all characters in Witch Hunter: The Invisible

World are assumed to use English currency. This enables characters
to easily complete business transactions without having to worry about
such mundane matters as exchange rates. This also allows the GM to
concentrate on more important and interesting matters than
converting the price lists into Spanish or Dutch money.

That said, variations in currency can play a large role in establishing

the flavor of the colonial setting. In the Caribbean, for example, one
might hear pirates refer to “pieces of eight.” Similarly, a Witch
Hunter will realize that she’s left New England when the next town
she visits uses the lion dollar instead of the guinea. Finally, one can
learn valuable information from a person based on the coinage he’s
carrying.

This article is designed to marry the flavor of multiple currencies with ease of use in a Witch
Hunter game. It takes the conceit that coinage of different colonial powers have been adjusted to
work seamlessly with English currency. In the Grave New World, this is represented by the
Charles Town Commercial Compact.

In 1867, colonial representatives gathered in Charles Town to make conducting business

between the colonies a stable affair. A compact was agreed to whereby the colonial governors
would consent to a uniform currency exchange rate. While no sovereign is bound by it, the
monarchs in Europe have generally let it be. Only English King James II objected to it, but upon
his removal dual monarchs William and Mary were only too happy to endorse it.

Because of the Charles Town Commercial Compact (or just “the Compact” amongst business
people), it is very easy to use local currency for the price lists in Witch Hunter products. Simply
substitute the British coin for the foreign equivalent.

British Dutch French Spanish Aztec

Guinea (1) Lion Dollar Écu Doubloon Quachtli
Crown (1/4) Guilder Franc Peso Cortes
Shilling (1/20) Stuiver Sol Real Quetzal
Penny (1/240) Penning Denier Maravedi Cacao Bean
Farthing (1/960)

Witch Hunter: The Invisible World, and all related names and terms, are © Paradigm Concepts, Inc and are used without permission. Their use
does not constitute a challenge to the rights held by PCI.
Find out more about Witch Hunter at http://www.paradigmconcepts.com/witch_hunter.
 Currency Notes

Cacao Prior to European influence, the Aztecs used a barter

Bean system that used the cacao bean as a common unit of
measure. While the Aztecs have started minting coins, the
cacao bean is still widely used within the Empire. The
cacao, a copper coin equivalent to the cacao bean, has just
entered circulation in Tenochtitlan markets.
Cortes At the urging of French traders, Emperor Acolmiztli
agreed to mint an Aztec coin that was equivalent to the
franc and the peso. He called the new gold coin a “cortes”
and the cruel joke is not lost on the Spanish in the region.
Still, Aztec gold trades as well as any and is begrudgingly
accepted even in Spanish markets.
Crown A large silver coin.

Denier A silver coin equal to the British penny.

Doubloon This coin is the “Spanish gold” that tempts many a pirate
in the Caribbean and elsewhere. It is worth two pistoles, a
more common Spanish gold coin in circulation in the
Grave New World, from which it gets its name (doblón is
Spanish for “double”).
Écu A large silver coin.

Farthing Originally a copper coin, farthings are currently made of

tin plugged with copper. These “tin farthings” are proving
unpopular due to corrosion. Farthings are rarely used in
the New World and worth so little that foreign currencies
haven’t bothered to match it. Ironically, merchants all
over the New World that sell cheap goods keep British
farthings on hand precisely for this reason.
Franc While the franc has gone out of circulation in France, the
city of Quebec continues to mint a “Colonial Franc,”
which is equal to the new Louis d’or coin being minted in
France. These silver coins are simply known as “francs,”
although New Englanders disparagingly call them
“shekels,” a dig at Catholic New France.
Guilder A silver coin. Interestingly, the name is derived from
“golden,” and both gold and silver Dutch guilders have
been minted over the centuries. Currently, the silver
guilder is in circulation.

Guinea A gold coin equal to a British pound. The pound is more

properly a unit of measure; if a character is said to be
carrying three pounds in his pocket, then he’s likely
carrying three guineas. Previous gold coins that were
equal to the guinea (and may be in sunken English vessels
or buried treasure) included sovereigns, unites, and
laurels.
Lion This silver coin gets its common name from the
Dollar depiction of a lion stamped on one side. Due to the
influence of the Dutch West India Company, the Lion
Dollar is as commonly used in Northern English colonies
as the peso in Southern English colonies.
Maravedi These copper coins are minted in Hispaniola.

Penning A copper coin. Dutch and English colonists frequently

mixed-and-matched penning and pennies even before the
Compact.
Penny A copper coin. English colonists refer to “pennies” when
counting coins and “pence” as the amount due. Thus, a
shopkeeper will say that an item costs three pence and the
customer will hand over three pennies.

Peso Also known as the real de a ocho or the “pieces of eight,”

the peso is a large silver coin initially worth eight reales.
The influence of other powers in the region has devalued
its worth to five reales.

Quachtli A large gold coin. Acolmiztli named this coin after the
lengths of cloths used to measure large purchases before
coinage was introduced. Unlike the cacao bean, the
original quachtli are no longer used.
Quetzal A silver coin introduced by Acolmiztli at the same time as
the cortes, named for a local bird.
Real A silver coin. Reales are the eight pieces that make up a
“pieces of eight” or peso.

Shilling A silver coin. Shillings are the largest denomination of

coin typically carried by English colonists.

Sol A copper coin.

Stuiver A copper coin.