Currencies are not necessarily specific to a nation or even civilization. It is entirely possible for multiple sovereign entities to use the same currency, even if they are at odds with each other. Hence, this page lists and describes all notable currencies used by the Threan peoples. Most of them consist of money made out of precious metals, primarily silver, but some of them are different. Even barter goods that are regularly used as commodity money are detailed on this page.

Each currency has the average value of its most valuable token expressed in sjod. A sjod is the smallest silver coin of the Suwehbish currency, and it is among the first money introduced on this website. It is commodity money since its worth depends purely on the local market value of silver; there is no institutionally enforced denomination attached to a sjod.

Value is naturally subjective and depends on a variety of factors. The stated exchange rate of a currency to sjod is taken from the perspective of the civilization that invented the currency in question. In other words, it reflects how many sjod the non-Suwehbish civilization demands in exchange for their own money. This is only an estimated average because of the aforementioned subjectivity and fickleness of worth.

The table below is to be read as follows: Currencies are grouped by the civilizations that invented them. On the far left, it gives the name of each individual unit of currency (e.g., coins or banknotes) as well as its abbreviation or symbol. ᛋ stands for sjod, for example. In the middle, the table summarizes the shape, size, and material of the object and, if applicable, what each of its sides display. The value of each currency unit, as described above, is given on the right.

Currency of the Kingdom of Suwehb

The Kingdom of Suwehb invented three commodity coins – the thaler, the sjod, and the kobjer. The coinage remains in use today.

A thaler is a round silver coin with a diameter of roughly 24 mm. The edge is smooth. One side displays the symbol of the Suwehbish royal family, while the other side proudly presents Yggorum's Oak. The royal emblem is a stylized trezkul head, side view, with a sword stuck through it vertically, tip pointing down. The Gren rune for Varhal is written on the sword and a crown hovers above its hilt. For this reason, thalers are often referred to as “crowns” or “blades” colloquially. The former usage is more common within Suwehb, while the latter is more prevalent abroad.

Sjods are round, thin silver coins, about 12 mm across. Their edges are smooth. One side shows Yggorum's Oak. The other side carries the symbol of its origin shire's ruling family.

Kobjers are round coins made from copper and have a diameter of ca. 26 mm. Their edges are smooth. The obverse displays a sheaf of barley, the reverse Yggorum's Oak. Since kobjer is a non-silver money, its exchange rate to sjod depends on the value of silver relative to copper. As it is currently, twenty kobjer are roughly worth a single sjod. Most Gren accept this rate.

By law, a thaler has to weigh 1/36 of a Suwehbish pound and a sjod has to weigh 1/12 of a thaler (so 1/432 of a Suwehbish pound). Both have to be made from pure silver. A kobjer has to weigh 1/36 of a Suwehbish pound and be made of pure copper. That unadulterated metals are a legal requirement is important; permitting alloys would make it easy to debase the coins by partially replacing the main metal content with cheaper metals.

A single thaler has a high purchasing power. When less funds are needed and sjods are unavailable or impracticable, it is common practice to cut a thaler into halves or quarters and pay with the pieces. This is done with sjods as well, albeit rarely because they are already quite small at full size. Quartering them would make them even harder to handle.

On average, two kobjer are enough to purchase a Suwehbish pound of barley (roughly 6,666 grains). This mass unit was introduced alongside the currency, and marks another massive step forward in the advancement of standardization and fair trade. Standardized lead weights are produced in Northorn by the royal forge. Each is permanently stamped with the royal seal to certify their accuracy.

Suwehbish King Bjorn introduced the thaler and the sjod in the year 491 az as a means of simplifying trade, because the Suwehbish economy was based on exchanging the artisanal wares it manufactured for domestically unavailable raw materials. King Bjorn wanted his money to be independent from foreign suppliers, and hence designed the thaler and sjod to be made exclusively from domestic silver. Suwehb had (and still has) rich mines of it. While the king retained the exclusive right to mint thalers, he permitted the ealdormen to make their own sjods. It put emphasis on the hierarchy between king and ealdormen, and also deterred that the latter's self-made sjods break the legal weight requirement. After all, if they wanted royal thalers, they had to exchange their own sjods for them with the king himself.

It quickly became apparent that silver coins alone are not practical for the common man. Even a single sjod's purchasing power was too much for most minor applications, and fractions of sjods are too unwieldy. This was not a problem though; Suwehbish day-to-day, low-volume trading was based on bartering anyhow. Nonetheless, King Bjorn decided to establish a copper coin, hoping to create money that would be universally applicable. In 493 az, the kobjer was born. All families that ruled a shire were given the privilege of producing the copper money, but the only allowed symbols for the obverse and reverse were a sheaf of barley and Yggorum's Oak respectively. The sheaf marked the kobjer as a coin for everyday use because barley was one of the most substantial commodities, being a staple food and needed to brew ale.

All of the above detailed laws established by King Bjorn are still in place to this day.

Although the Suwehbish currency was never officially adopted by the other Gren realms, it has spread across them, largely thanks to traveling merchants and monetary gifts from Suwehbish nobles. Nowadays, it is still only the Suwehbens that commonly use their coinage, but people in the other realms will normally accept them as well. Silver and copper have value no matter whose emblem has been struck on them.