How to? Coinage and Forgery

By DurakBlackaxe, in WFRP Gamemasters

I am currently trying to get the background materials ready for the game. So now I have moved onto coins, this in turn leads to forgery. Currently in my country we have false coins floating around, people keep passing them on, cause they dont wish to be left with it and lose out. They are quite easy to spot if your looking for it, also people are using coins from another country which arent legal tender, that look like pound coins if arent looking too closely.

In warhammer, i know the states have their own coinage which from the pictures look like a piece of metal hammered onto a template. Which look easy to forge. Also I read in some fantasy books, people filed off some metal off coins to make another coin from this trimming, making the real coin have less weight.

The problem is how to (if not using token coins)

  1. Keep track who has what false coinage and if they are using it when making a payment
  2. Does the player check their money when they get it, is there a check for this, or only check if they ask? The check itself would either way tell them something was wrong, which could be an issue.
  3. Would they spot its a forgery if they did
  4. What did honest people do in olden times if found it was a forgery. did you report to town guards, banks or who?

I been thinking of buying plastic money, but card coins could be better as you could easily make a fake coin. No need to use them all the time, but throw them out there once in a while.

Last question, what has been the most amount of coinage a PC has carried around? There must be a limit to how much can be carried in a pouch, before your into bags, chests, banks etc

Found an interesting article on warhamemr coinage http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=881

cant edit

I should be saying counterfeit coins, not forgery it seems.

In second Edition I think there where even rules if you leave the Reikland than the players need money changers to change their coins into the ones of the province or state and lose up to 10% of their value. Just for changing your money! :)

So money forgering is even easier in the empire. Rules wise you could think of something that it doesn't bother them on the daily base. But when they get a big reward or change money then they mabye can make an observation or skulldugery check to see if the have get false money.

And weight on money I would completely ditch. If they arent carying 100 Gold crowns adound it doesn't matter. And as Warhammer "Heroe's" they will most likely never stumble upon that amounts of money.

DurakBlackaxe said:

The problem is how to (if not using token coins)

  1. Keep track who has what false coinage and if they are using it when making a payment
  2. Does the player check their money when they get it, is there a check for this, or only check if they ask? The check itself would either way tell them something was wrong, which could be an issue.
  3. Would they spot its a forgery if they did
  4. What did honest people do in olden times if found it was a forgery. did you report to town guards, banks or who?

From your reply, for number 3 your saying have it only when large amounts of treasure are found, and at a money exchanger. I suppose if they gave him they be arrested and trialed as counterfeiters. And vice versa.

But if they get this false money and pass it on, maybe throw a dice to see if that payment has the flase coinage in it, and if the tarder notices.

Found the answer to 4 was execution.