Sonim: The Kingdom of Gold

An island kingdom which became wealthy through trade also became the regional superpower in naval warfare. With a safe, well managed society at home and expansion of trade externally, the kingdom became rediculously wealthy, so much so that it became impossible to warehouse the surplus gold.

The solution was to gild the city. Gold was beaten into foil and applied to the surfaces of buildings, beginning with the interior of government buildings and then their exteriors. At the height of this fad many merchants and bureaucrats gilded their estates, but this fashion has receeded somewhat. Wealthy folks only gild the exteriors of their homes now, and import marble, jade, and other precious and semi-prescious stone, and gem-quality woods to decorate their interior spaces while the poor have taken up the gilding fashion.

Gold has lost its value here, and one of the few major exports of this island now are artifacts of gold, including housewares such as lamps and candellabras, and cloth of gold.

The coinage of this kingdom is made of non-metals worked by skilled craftsmen into minor works of art:

Ironwood: Rectangular chips of dark reddish wood about 2cm × 1.5cm × .5cm, with the bust of a famous trader on the obverse and the ship they sailed on the reverse. Called a Ship Token, or a 'toke', the coin has a base value of 2gp, but is treated as a copper piece by the Sonimians.

Shell: Circular discs about 2.5cm in diameter and .25cm thick at the edge, with a raised bust of a Minister of Trade on one side and a bundle of scrolls bound to a sword on the reverse. A conch native to the waters around the island kingdom provides the shells, which is valued at about 8gp in the wider world, but which are used as half-silver coins in the islands, where they are called 'shells.'

Jade: Square blocks of jade about 1.66cm on a side and about .33cm thick, bearing the image of a monarch on the obverse and a public building on the reverse. Valued between 15 and 20 gp each in the outside world, they are valued at about five silver equivalent on the island. They are called 'squares' by the public at large.

Alabaster: Octagonal plaques of alabaster about 3cm across and .75cm thick with the image of the god of wealth on their obverse and a brachiating abstract pattern somewhat remniscent of a spider's web on the reverse. Called a web by the locals, these coins are valued at 50gp elsewhere, but treated like most folk would treat two gold pieces on the island. These are the most fragile of coins, and are seldom carried for general use. Instead, they are kept in felt bags which are tube-shaped and quilted to protect stacks, (usually of ten.) Webs are generally hoarded against future need as opposed to being used in common circulation.