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Old 11-14-2017, 10:23 PM   #13
Buzzardo
 
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Austin, TX
Default Re: The use of DOLLARS not a fantasy/medieval money system. WHY???

Quote:
Originally Posted by Say, it isn't that bad! View Post
barring missing digits, you can count it on all fingers and both thumbs, which is important for early learning. First thumb, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, second thumb, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10. Gets you six more digits than just linear counting on your digits.
You can count to 144 on two hands (assuming you haven't lost a finger). To do it, use the thumb on one hand as a pointer and count the knuckles of the fingers on that hand. That'll get you to 12. Use the other hand to keep track of sets of 12. That gets you to 144. That's the origin of a dozen and a gross. Bakers counted the thumb, so a baker's dozen was 13. That trick let non-literate merchants keep track of inventory as ships and caravans were loaded and unloaded. (Non-literate didn't mean stupid, either - those folks had prodigious memories, by dint of necessity.)

As a mathematician friend of mine once pointed out, a dozen is a handier base than ten. 12 divides evenly by 2, 3, 4, and 6. Ten divides evenly by only 2 and 5. That's one reason hours have 60 minutes - being evenly divisible by 2, 3, and 4 is useful.

As for the topic at hand, I always create monetary units for my campaigns. In the current campaign, the coins are worth $1 (copper), $25 (silver), and $100 (gold). Large amounts of wealth are moved about in gems, though. And the merchant houses in civilized areas honor each other's letters of credit, for a reasonable fee. That lets merchants move down caravan routes with a letter rather than a strongbox.
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Last edited by Buzzardo; 11-14-2017 at 10:26 PM.
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