Would this work in a society?

[Wannabehero]

A very interesting idea for a fantasy society, I can definitely see this as being fun to use in a RPG-type setting.

I do agree with the other posters here though, a 1 to 1 exchange for any and all goods just doesn't make sense in any logical scenario. Some goods have an inherently greater value based on primarily two factors:
1) Rarity (scarcity), materials that are useful but rare are inherently worth more.
2) Labor, materials and goods that require more effort to make or acquire are inherently worth more.

I'm sure others who are more schooled in economics could break that down into greater detail, but those two guidelines work pretty much all the time.

That is why, say, a tool made of wood and iron is worth more than the wood and iron it is made of, because it required labor. And that is why 20 lbs. of salt is worth more than 20 lbs. of loose rocks, salt is rarer (and requires more labor to obtain) than loose stones.

I would suggest that you can keep your non-currency society intact, but maybe mix it up a bit with some pseudo-currency standards, like the exchange rates mearrin69 suggested.

Think about your society. What are their most common goods? These could be used in place of the normal dollar/euro/gold type of value system.
"That little shack over on the hill? It'll cost ya ten hogs and seven chickens"

I'm reminded of the Bone comic book series, where in the little town of Barrelhaven the standard form of currency was the egg.

[Crayons]

Think about your society. What are their most common goods? These could be used in place of the normal dollar/euro/gold type of value system.
"That little shack over on the hill? It'll cost ya ten hogs and seven chickens"

I think Wannabehero has the basis for the solution. Your basic commodity is rice and was used in Japan as the basis for measuring "wealth" on a macroscopic scale at least.
The "koku" was the amount of rice 1 person needed for one year. (Look it up on wikipedia if you haven't already?). 1 koku has a volume and a mass which can be used for measurement too.
From an economic standpoint one koku represents a number of aspects of value.
Land, to grow it on.
Time to grow it.
Labour (people) to farm it.
The total represents essentially represents a calorific value = energy.
Provided you live where it can be grown it represents a "reasonably stable" monetary standard. It's a mathematical exercise, with some land/time/people conversions, then, to convert a cost in raw iron (say). How much land, time and people does it take to make one "thing" of pig iron.
In terms of "foreign" exchange, you look at direct conversion of rice to (for example) corn, or wheat, perhaps converted via "calories".....
I'm kinda "thinking aloud" here!

You might also look at modern exchange systems. I saw something on TV once where more local/isolated communities adopt a local "scrip" for exchange of goods and services. Two hours plumbing is worth 3 hours weeding the garden?

[Etheremis]

Fascinating discussion with a lot of excellent points brought up already. The Romans paying their soldiers in salt was the first thing to cross my mind reading the initial post. I would like to point out a few things.

1. The solution lies, I think, with a hybrid system. You espouse that a farmer won't trade in his crop for paper bills. A noble, however, is much more likely to. These bills would more than likely be be deeds and titles. Even if they were money then it stands to reason that is would be redeemable for a large quantity of silver/gold coin. Peasants would probably have a few coins but mostly deal via bartering. Even if the currency was not gold/silver portability is a must.

2. Most people would be ignorant to the exchange rate between between one unit of chickens and a half unit of iron. Most people only want to buy exactly what they need. (I just re-read some of the responses and it was pointed out that weight of unit should vary based on item in question)

3. Supply and Demand. The exchange rates are likely to fluctuate wildly depending on circumstances and location. A farmer in province A has a lot more rice than farmer in province B (because of the drought there). Since the people in both areas need to eat farmer B's yield (what little he managed) is actually worth considerably more based upon weight than farmer A's.

4. Multiple weight systems. Take a look sometime at all the differing weight systems employed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoirdupois http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apothecaries%27_system. Some of them were only used for metals and some only for pharmacological. Unless there is one fixed standard of measure it becomes a nightmare.

5. Are there neighboring countries to Dal? The lack of a currency is a barrier to commerce. This barrier is not insurmountable but does make a legitimate concern.

One thing many people fail to consider with regards to currency is that money is an abstract for wealth. Wealth is based on goods and/or services. A gold coin's value is not necessarily because gold itself is valuable. I can have a mountain of gold coins, but no actual wealth. It is because with this gold coin I can obtain x product or y service. The coin itself has no value until it is traded. Also, until it is traded the value of the coin is not fixed. It may say $1 on it, but if someone will give me X for it and another would give me X+Y it's value is not set until I make a deal.

All said and done your system can work but there are a lot of rough edges to it. Bartering is the earliest form of trade. I have some concerns though with this system and the nature of your project. If you are just mapping as a creative exercise and were curious, then the responses I have read are all enough to give you a good idea. If you are planning this as an rpg setting and intend to play it, then i foresee some problems. At that point you should probably list everything by it's value in X and then come up with some exchange rates. That set up is almost analogous with coinage anyway and personally i wouldn't go through the hassle because your players will probably get very frustrated when trying to buy things. It will be novel the first time but eventually it will be annoying.


btw, Hi everyone! I just joined the guild the other day and this is post #1. (I hate "introduce yourself" boards...)