GP to dollar exchange rate

[smart thog]

The title says it all. I want to know what the GP to dollar exchange rate is. could somebody please tell me?

[tyckspoon]

I don't think there is one, officially; the two currencies aren't expected to be in the same games. If you're using dollars, gold is just a commodity and not currency. If you're using gold, chances are nobody is thinking of paper money and they certainly aren't thinking of paper money that doesn't immediately represent gold/silver/copper.

That said, the d20 Modern SRD might have something about it, or you could just convert the GP by value of the weight of metal they're made of; IIRC, the standard D&D gold piece is some absurdly large coin.. yeah, there it is. A third of an ounce apiece, fifty to a pound. Any large amount of GP is going to come out to 'a heck of a lot of dollars.'

[icthius]

Ask any numismatics company or coin auction group and they'll tell you that if you can answer that question you'd be a very rich fellow

Here's a good starting place:
http://www.kitco.com/pop_windows/exchdetails.html

[Telonius]

Depends on how much gold is in a "gold coin."

50 coins per pound, 1 pound = 16 ounces. Approximate current price of gold: US$858/ounce.

Assuming gp are the same gold concentration as the standard gold used in that pricing, that works out to about US$274/gp. (Of course this goes all screwy if you try to compare $/coin for the current prices of copper, silver, and platinum in the real world).

[Altair_the_Vexed]

It doesn't work exactly like that - some things are strangely expensive, often for a balance reason (if you can't afford it, then you can't have it, so power levels stay nicely constant and balanced).

However... you won't want to hear that, so look at it this way:

one pound of gold = 50gp cost
currently gold is 858 US dollar per ounce
16 ounces in a pound
THEREFORE: 858 x 16 / 50 = 274.56 USD per gp.

...but like I said, it doesn't work like this. This would make a chunk of cheese about 27 US dollars.
Also, a commoner doesn't earn enough to buy both a chunk of cheese and bread with his wages from a day's hard work.
The D&D prices for ordinary stuff are screwed up and best not examined too closely.


EDIT: Eek! Simu-Ninja posting!

[Telonius]

...but like I said, it doesn't work like this. This would make a chunk of cheese about 27 US dollars.

Maybe they were balancing it to organic food stores?

[adanedhel9]

I've heard $8 ~ 1 gp. I don't have the time at the moment to confirm this, but when I first heard it (several years ago, maybe even under 2e) it made sense.

[PMDM]

Even if you could get a number, economics dictates that the number will change based on the value of the dollar. So there's really no point in trying to figure it out.

[Lolzords]

Whenever I explain how gold pieces work to people I show gold piece as a one pound coin, silver piece as a 10 pence coin, bronze coin as a 1 pence coin and a platinum piece as a 10 pound note.

Since the pieces currency is similar to pounds and pence, you could work it out in the same way as you would work out pounds and pence to dollars.

[Matthew]

I would say about $2 to 1 Silver Coin, which would be $20 to a Gold Coin or $300 for a Long Sword, $2 for a half a pound of butter or two pounds of bread.

[MorkaisChosen]

Whenever I explain how gold pieces work to people I show gold piece as a one pound coin, silver piece as a 10 pence coin, bronze coin as a 1 pence coin and a platinum piece as a 10 pound note.

Since the pieces currency is similar to pounds and pence, you could work it out in the same way as you would work out pounds and pence to dollars.

So the average peasant may never see one pound in his life?

[Seldriss]

In the old time of AD&D 2nd Edition, the rate was 1gp = $20.
This was given as an answer in a Dragon magazine, in Sage Advice.
Even if time passed, and editions rolled over, i still use this rate, even if it's just an approximate evaluation, as many prices don't really make sense anyway.

[Eldmor]

I would say about $2 to 1 Silver Coin, which would be $20 to a Gold Coin or $300 for a Long Sword, $2 for a half a pound of butter or two pounds of bread.

For some reason that just screams "I MAKE SENSE!". All of those prices would be expected in the modern world. For looking like a pull-out-the-bum number, it works beautifully.

[Neek]

They'll see more than one pound, but they'll hardly see a coin or a note worth that much.

The problem, however, with equating gold pieces and dollars is this: The value of goods and services in D&D are quite different than in the modern world (or for that matter, the value of goods and services in the medieval era are quite different). While some prices would equate, some prices would not...

[Matthew]

The problem, however, with equating gold pieces and dollars is this: The value of goods and services in D&D are quite different than in the modern world (or for that matter, the value of goods and services in the medieval era are quite different). While some prices would equate, some prices would not...

Very true, but I think we're looking for a 'best fit', not a perfect fit. The price of Bows, for instance, is a hold over from AD&D where they were a much more powerful weapon relative to the other options. Of course all prices were explicitly said to be vastly inflated in AD&D as a result of the activities of the adventurers and Gold Coins weighed ten to the pound.

One of the most significant problems in assessing medieval prices is the variety of coinage over time and locality. The generic sourcebook Fief contains a very lengthy table of medieval prices with period, location and currency provided. It's the best consolidated list I know of and broadly supports the $2 to 1 Silver Coin conclusion (though a Silver coin in D&D and the real world have very different weights, since you get something like 300 to the pound).

[Mr.Bookworm]

I always thought of it, for simplicities's sake, as this:

1 pp=100 dollars
1 gp=10 dollars
1 sp=1 dollar
1 cp=10 cents

Which roughly works out.

[RukiTanuki]

The d20 Modern supplement Urban Arcana's "Chapter Nine: D&D and Urban Arcana" lists a gold piece as being worth $20 USD.

[Starsinger]

Wouldn't a rather simple idea be to compare the cost of a pistol from the DMG to the cost of one in the real world?

[Valiena]

There are not 16 oz to a pound when dealing with gold. They use Troy ounces. There be 12 of them to a pound.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_weight

[Matthew]

Yes, but not in D&D; it's fifty to the conventional pound.* They also used the Trojan Pound when Charlemagne standardised the Frankish Silver Coin, which is why it's 240 Silver Coins to the Trojan Pound and about 300 Silver Coins to the contemporary pound.

*Of course, since the D&D Mile is apparently 6,000 Feet, I wouldn't be surprised to find the D&D Pound was slightly different from the real pound, but there is nothing to indicate that either way.

[smart thog]

The d20 Modern supplement Urban Arcana's "Chapter Nine: D&D and Urban Arcana" lists a gold piece as being worth $20 USD.

Well in that case, I just shelled out 40 bucks for a beer. Thanks for the help.

[Matthew]

Well in that case, I just shelled out 40 bucks for a beer. Thanks for the help.

I've heard of places like that...

[Telonius]

There are not 16 oz to a pound when dealing with gold. They use Troy ounces. There be 12 of them to a pound.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_weight

Argh, curse you Imperial measurements. $206 then.

[terrant]

It's all relative to where you are. In this world; sure I'll give you some dollars for that gold coin. However in the game world try paying me in paper that you claim are tokens of value and I'll hit you with an axe and claim its a receipt.

So take your choice:
- this world = $274'ish.
- game world = nothing (but trouble).

[AKA_Bait]

Because it's vaguely relevent and really cool I recommend the Economicon, which is a subsection of the really cool Dungeonomicon article. It has some interesting analisys of how the D&D economy would work and why it doesn't really mesh with modern ideas of currency.

[Talya]

If you're talking current American dollars, it's 1gp = 156,246,235,235 USD.
If you're talking current Canadian dollars, it's 1gp = 10 CAD.

My figures are scientifically accurate 9 times out of 1000 to within +/- infinity.

[psychoticbarber]

If you're talking current American dollars, it's 1gp = 156,246,235,235 USD.
If you're talking current Canadian dollars, it's 1gp = 10 CAD.

My figures are scientifically accurate 9 times out of 1000 to within +/- infinity.

Hey now, our dollar is higher than yours now .

Here's a half-decent comparison. From post #3 on down.

[Talya]

Hey now, our dollar is higher than yours now .

Oh sure, today. And that still falls within the boundaries of my scientific accuracy statement!

[Matthew]

Here's a half-decent comparison. From post #3 on down.

Heh, what do you know, 1 SP = $2. It must be true, then.

[Felius]

Well, it depends on the greed and financial status of your DM. You may get more gold than you can use in a thousand years of epic campaign for a 100 bucks if he is on negatives. (I don't believe no one did that joke before)

Anyway, seriously, to convert it, you would have to see the power of acquisition of the gp and compare it with the power of acquisition of the gp. To define what the power of acquisition of the gp, you would need to see how much each item is actually worth and why it's worth that price. So that goes on. Basically you would need to flesh out the entire economy of D&D, including inflation, life quality, etc. It's not really a feasible thing to do. If you do happen to appear on a modern society with gold pieces, make then worth their weight, or check the auctions of real life for an idea of the price. If you happen to appear in a classic D&D setting with three hundred dollars in cash and your credit card, well, it's worthless, except what's the price of the paper it's printed, and the plastic it's done. So 300 1 dollar bills are worth more then 3 100 dollar bills.