Milled coins

I was looking for the rules on milling coins in the various supplements and couldn't find it. (The layout of the books is kinda cool, but really hard to find things).

Anybody remember where it is in the rule supplements? Anybody implement this?

Yup would need to redo all currency in circulation big cost

Yes, though I imagine it would be a nice bump to EH, since your currency is now more dependable.

I guess I thought I'd seen some actual numbers for the costs somewhere, but I guess not. It does make sense that the costs would be dependent on the size of your economy, and the money in circulation.

I think it makes all your currnt coinage worthless so you take a big hit!

No, according to the rules, you recall, and remint your existing coinage, so it isn't wasted.

Of course, depending upon how much clipping has been going on, the state is likely to eat those losses, so the more clipping, probably the more expensive.

I have looked at bringing in a new coinage with milled edges in the past and while it may bring long term economic benefit its really, really expensive plus it causes a lot of economic disruption in the short term.

However if you are at the start of a new reign or have something else to mark and you also have some gold or silver bullion hanging around the place it may be worth while leaving the old coins in circulation but minting some some nice shinny ones as well so your loyal population can see your dashing profile and know who is in charge.

Apart from the propanganda benefit new the new coins will increase the money supply which is generally good for economic growth.

I believe that historically prior to our period Spain and Portugal with access to South American Bullion and with limited ability to increase production managed to mint so many new coins that they gave themselves huge inflationary problems. But at the other end of the scale the Ottoman and Chinese Economies were held back by lack of coinage.

Partly this was social.......as fast as the governments minted new coins so people drilled holes in them and turned them into dowry jewellery effectively taking the coins out of circulation and lowering the money supply. Oddly the Chinese had paper money but their mostly manchu and mongol banner troops wanted to be paid in silver, so the government wanted to pay merchants in paper but collect taxes in silver to pay its key troops with.

With a lot of this silver than being taken off to the steppe and out of the economy it might be reasonable to give Chinese players downward pressure on their economic health and even trouble with the military if they do not have enough silver in stock when pay day arrives. Or is this too nasty?

Too perhaps even things up a bit the powers who run plantations and mines in the America's could have the same problems if they dont recieve certain numbers of Slaves from Africa every year.

Ok, OK I admitt to piractical thoughts........at the moment a one merchant ship seems to be the same as any other and Shipping reports just mention numbers but I feel the loss of a Big Dutch East Indiaman or a Manila Galleon should be different to some Thames Sailing Barage carrying wool.

For starters where do you find a market for a cargo of Chinese tableware with imperial factory stamps property of the VOIC or a ton of Silver marked with the stamp of the Emperor of China and due to form the pay roll of the Imperial Guard. Some cargo is just hotter than others.

When you say, very, very expensive, can you quantify that?

Of course, I can just ask on my turn, what's another few pounds here or there to get a sense of it?

I really do run up the bill asking questions!

Though I agree that there are a lot of historically interesting issues with the need for bullion. Richard, I think, has chosen not to embed those too much in game, however, as it would just be too much of a mess to manage for added realism. My understanding (and there are those here who probably know better than I) is that one of the key drivers of the opium trade in china is that they demanded payment for all goods in bullion, and wouldn't take anything in trade. So the western traders were desperate for something to extract the bullion back out of china so they could turn around and respend it in china. Opium smuggling seemed to be the ticket.

I was able to revalue the currency in game. I asked the treasury Minister to work out the costs for different levels of revaluation(which also ment new coins) the reply then contained the differing costs, & also the option of milled or unmilled coins. The introduction lifed both Honour & Economic health.If I remember correctly it was expensive( although this I supose is relative to size of nation, & amount of coins in circulation)It also took a year to fully complete the change.