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LOTRfan
2010-10-03, 04:17 PM
Okay, this question is going to sound weird, but assume that gold pieces as described in the 3.5e Player's Handbook was an actual type of currency. Judging by the prices listed, what would the conversion factor be for gold pieces and American dollars?

I'm trying to use a D&D spell in a modern times campaign, so I need to find out how much the gp cost is worth.

Thanks in advance.

tyckspoon
2010-10-03, 04:23 PM
No stable conversion; it depends on what you use as your basis of conversion (you'll get a very different rate if you compare, say, gp to pounds of meat than you will if you do gp to a weight of iron, and you get completely absurd values if you just use the metal-weight of the GP, because D&D gold is wayyyyy more common and less precious than real-world gold.) I think the most 'official' number is $50 to 1 GP, tho. Doesn't bear up to any scrutiny in actual economic sense, but it works well enough for game purposes.

arguskos
2010-10-03, 04:23 PM
Right now, one ounce of gold is $1318 USD. A single GP is 1/3 of an ounce, so let's call it $439 USD (rounded down).

There you have 1 GP in USD. Extrapolate as needed.

Note: this is based on the actual economic price of gold at this moment. Not sure if that's useful, but there you have it. :smallcool:

LOTRfan
2010-10-03, 04:25 PM
Thanks! I appreciate it.

Matthew
2010-10-03, 04:26 PM
As tyckspoon says. Anything from $20-100 is possible, depending on what you decide to compare. I think D20 Modern or Urban Arcana has an actual exchange rate.

Eloel
2010-10-03, 04:27 PM
1 pound of flour = 2 cp
1 pound of flour = around 2 dollars
1 cp = 1 dollar

Salt:
1 pound of salt = 500 cp
1 pound of salt = 3 dollars
160 cp = 1 dollar

When you go gold:
1 pound of gold = 5000 cp
1 pound of gold = around 16000 dollars
Around 3 dollars to the cp



So, no definite answer... Though I'd go with 1 dollar per cp for ease of use.

PS: All current prices were googled, might not be true. Copper prices are from SRD.