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Size of Silver Coins

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Last Updated On
ByNewsby

Silver coins are slightly smaller than dimes. PFLATS from the Officials calculated it – now that’s what I call making the most of your math!

http://bit.ly/2c4Vtaq

Category: Game Design Discussions
Topic: Research and Investigation

Date: 09/05/2016 06:58 PM CDT
From: PFLATS
Subj: Silver coins are slightly smaller than dimes
There are 160 silver coins to a pound, or 0.1 oz/coin. There are about 28.3 grams per ounce, so each coin weighs about 2.83 grams. Silver is 10.49 g/cm^3. That gives us 2.83/10.49 = 0.2698 cm^3 of silver.

The volume of a cylinder is ?r^2h. If we use the thickness of a dime, 1.35 mm = 0.135 cm, we can solve for the radius: r = sqrt(0.2698/(0.135?)) = 0.79758 cm, for a diameter of 1.595 cm.

So a silver coin, if it were the thickness of a dime (1.35 mm) would have a diameter of 15.95 mm. A dime has a diameter of 17.91 mm.

Volume-wise, a silver coin is 79% of the volume of a dime. At the same thickness, a silver coin is 89% of the width/diameter of a dime.

Date: 09/05/2016 07:04 PM CDT
From: VANKRASN39
Subj: Re: Silver coins are slightly smaller than dimes

that would be a fun use of the math extension on the Wiki 🙂

Date: 09/06/2016 07:28 AM CDT
From: DAID
Subj: Re: Silver coins are slightly smaller than dimes
They really should have modeled them on the three cent silver piece. We could hold nearly 4 times more coins before becoming encumbered.

Halflings of Elanthia would rejoice!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cent_piece_(United_States_coin)

Date: 09/13/2016 10:21 PM CDT
From: PFLATS
Subj: Re: Silver coins are slightly smaller than dimes
>They really should have modeled them on the three cent silver piece. We could hold nearly 4 times more coins before becoming encumbered.

Ah, but silver coins are accepted everywhere and for the same value, so they’re clearly valued intrinsically, not fiat currency.

Thus, if you had a silver coin with a quarter of the weight, it would only have a quarter of the value. Halflings are in trouble either way.

Date: 09/16/2016 08:22 AM CDT
From: DAID
Subj: Re: Silver coins are slightly smaller than dimes
LOL, touche.

Fine, gold coins and other stuff like in DR! Actually it’s probably a much more cumbersome system than it makes up for, but at least on paper it sounds good.

Veil iron currency, here we come!

Date: 09/28/2016 05:22 PM CDT
From: EARTHDIVER
Subj: Re: Silver coins are slightly smaller than dimes
Platinum and gold coins in DR also made pickpocketing something to actually worry about. I’m not sure if that’s really the case in GS anymore?

Date: 09/29/2016 09:25 PM CDT
From: ROLFARD
Subj: Re: Silver coins are slightly smaller than dimes
All of this theory is based on the assumption gravity is equal.

Date: 09/30/2016 08:59 AM CDT
From: DAID
Subj: Re: Silver coins are slightly smaller than dimes
>All of this theory is based on the assumption gravity is equal.

In as much as determining the size of the coin, that’s true. However, as far as the encumbrance effects, we are weighing them, which implicitly includes gravitational effects.

The mass of two coins might be different, but if they weigh the same they weigh the same.

Date: 09/30/2016 09:00 AM CDT
From: DAID
Subj: Re: Silver coins are slightly smaller than dimes
…which to follow up…

considering humans in game weigh something similar to humans in real life, then we can basically know the gravity is roughly the same, too.

So there 😛

Date: 09/30/2016 11:22 PM CDT
From: DOUG
Subj: Re: Silver coins are slightly smaller than dimes
Unless, of course, humans use the lesser mass value, and the giantman pound is based off of a larger mass value (always enjoy the ‘which weighs more, a ton of. . . ‘ challenges). Elves – Avoirdupois, Humans – Tower, Goblins – Lower, Giantman – London. Whee!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)

Doug

 

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