Coin trivia; standardized coin weight by volume

[DanielKT]

So I was working on a dragon hoard and needed to know dimensions and weight.
I figured I would share in case it was useful. Particuarly since haversacks and bags of holding are in cubic feet and pounds capacity.

So I found the info about standardized coin sizes in D&D and adopted that to make things easier.
So 12000 coins per cubic foot. Maybe not exact with the dimensions I picked, but close enough.
Thats what the Draconomicon says to use for loosely stacked coins anyway.

Took a .999 gold bullion coins dimensions and standardized the weight to 1 troy oz.

Then found the 1 t. oz copper, silver and platinum coins. Obviously they all had different dimensions
since easy metal has a different atomic mass.

I took the volume of each coin and converted them over to the same dimensions and took the new weight
from that new volume.

Wt per Coin (Lbs)
CP: 0.0411630289
SP: 0.0432355737
GP: 0.0685714
PP: 0.0787199672

Wt per Cubic Foot (12000 Coins)
CP: 493.96 lb
SP: 518.83 lb
GP: 822.86 lb
PP: 944.64 lb

So that Bag of Holding IV can carry 21,876 GP before hitting the weight limit.

[Crake]

Isn't it dnd standard to have 50 coins per pound, regardless of the kind of coin? I mean, that's kinda why a pound of gold is worth 50gp, or a pound of platinum is worth 50pp, because 50gp and 50pp is literally a pound of gold/platinum.

That does mean that the volume of coins isn't consistent, but I think, when it comes to coins, more often tahn not, weight is going to be the limiting factor, or it's just not gonna be an issue.

[Saint-Just]

DnD standard coins are all 50\pound. Given the fact that most historical coins were even smaller than that (silver pennies\pfennings were 200-260\pound, gold solidi\bezants\dinars were around 100\pound) I am not sure why would you want to increase the size of coinage in your world. Additionally default item prices are already somewhat weird (e.g. non-masterwork elven thinblade already costs it's own weight in gold), increasing the size of every single coin would only make it worse. Finally if gold is worth so little I suspect that inhabitants of any realistic world would change the medium of exchange to something more compact (gems, cowrie shells, enchanted paper) rather than having to carry many pounds of gold every time you need to buy travel rations for two-week journey.

[Sian]

Additionally default item prices are already somewhat weird (e.g. non-masterwork elven thinblade already costs it's own weight in gold), increasing the size of every single coin would only make it worse. Finally if gold is worth so little I suspect that inhabitants of any realistic world would change the medium of exchange to something more compact (gems, cowrie shells, enchanted paper) rather than having to carry many pounds of gold every time you need to buy travel rations for two-week journey.

of cause, before we can get into if it's all that off, we'd have to account for how much gold there actually is in the system ... it's not totally implausible that Gold is relatively speaking worth less in an Fantasy world where Dwarves have dug out a F-ton of it in their tunnels, hence there being relatively more to go around... It's still worth Enough to be used for everyone but the bottom of the wealth-pile, but it's still not worth a lot

[DanielKT]

It specifically says in the Draconomicon, p278, the coins are a little over an inch arcoss and 1/10th of a inch thick.

Which was fairly close to the bullion coins i used.

Hence why I used about that as a standard size for volume and adjusted to the weight based on that volume.

Based on the book, my numbers should be reasonably close.

Edit: The why was mostly due to one of the players claiming he can carry more than half a dozen large weapons without them getting in the way along with all their other gear just because it's under the weight limit while claiming to carry around a couple thousand gold as well. And being a rules lawyer and not giving up when I say "it's like this, lets move on".
So; facts.

[Fizban]

Gold is dense, it weighs a lot and takes up little space. If they've got the carrying capacity and a container that won't rip open under the weight, they probably can carry as much gold as they want. And unless you put a barrier on converting it, they could also exchange it for platinum to carry 1/10 as much, or gems and art objects that weigh barely anything.

Weapons are a completely different matter, and no whining about carrying capacity overrides the DM's ability to say "that's not physically possible." I've actually written down the exact limits of what weapons you can wear without penalty for my notes: you can have one one-handed and one light weapon or buckler on each hip (usually blades or maybe a mace)- the Bastard Sword is notable for being the biggest sword you can wear on your hip. Shortbows were actually worn on the hip in the past, so you can have a shortbow and quiver on one hip instead. You can strap one heavy shield or crossbow over your pack, or you can rig up some sort of harness that holds a two-handed weapon on your back instead of a backpack. You can have a vest of some number of knives, and if you want a quiver of shortspears or javelins that can go on your hip or be attached to your pack (which will make it too bulky for a shield or crossbow) Other two-handed weapons, longbows, polearms, bigger shields, etc, either have to be in your hands or on a pack animal, period.

Does all of that seem excessive when magical storage is so cheap? Yeah, it's not actually that cheap, and even then it's massively underpriced- but if you want people to respect magical storage and maybe even consider the more expensive (and more interesting) options, it has to actually matter. And it only matters if you enforce realistic limits on strapping giant straight pieces of metal and wood to your body.

[Buufreak]

Didn't someone just do all this math around a month ago? I swear I've seen this worked out already.

[Saint-Just]

It specifically says in the Draconomicon, p278, the coins are a little over an inch arcoss and 1/10th of a inch thick.

Which was fairly close to the bullion coins i used.

Hence why I used about that as a standard size for volume and adjusted to the weight based on that volume.

Based on the book, my numbers should be reasonably close.


Yep, that seems like pretty clear case of one rulebook contradicting another. I still think that in that case it's more reasonable to assume coins of 50\pound - after all any rules lawyer worth his salt would insist that it is possible for both rulebooks be true if gold in d&d is less dense than IRL.

Even going by the core rules 2200 gold would be medium load for ST 12, and 7700 gold a medium load for ST 20 (without accounting for any additional items they may carry). I don't think it's worth it to impose stricter limits.

[hamishspence]

Another way of resolving it might be to make the gold coins mostly empty space - thick rim, but very thin disc.

[hewhosaysfish]

Another way of resolving it might be to make the gold coins mostly empty space - thick rim, but very thin disc.

Or coins with holes in the middle.

[smasher0404]

Or coins with holes in the middle.
Or alloyed with some less valuable metals.