As a civilization, D'ni needed a practical way to conduct transactions. On the surface, moneyless societies only exist when they are so small that barter is practical. Whenever a society gets above a certain size, barter as a means of trade becomes cumbersome. That's because the amount of goods that need to be traded often gets too large to be easily carried.
When that happens, the concept of money is usually invented in some form or other or gets borrowed from another society that already has it. Eventually, even haggling over price becomes less common since in complex economies one needs to have an concrete idea of how much of your product is worth when compared to someone else's.
We don't know very much about D'ni money, but there are several references to it. Let's cover some of them now. |
King Koreen Notebook
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One of the first references to money can be found in King Koreen's notebook. It says: "Koreen continued to live in the city although his family stayed in a secret Private Age. The city grew more and more dangerous as the Judges began to destroy more of the city and kill more of its citizens. Koreen poured money into the City Guard as well as the small military of the day, although it seemed too little to late." |
King Naygen Notebook
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 Another reference to money can be found in King Naygen's notebook. It has a sentence that specifically mentions the word money: "In 2500 DE, Naygen proposed the construction of a new Council chamber for the Guilds. Somewhat surprising was that he suggested it should be built over the Tomb of the Great King. The proposal was met with little opposition, and construction began two years later. In 2504 DE, the Tomb of the Great King was barely visible, a tremendous symbol of what D'ni had become.
"Later it was discovered that within the Council chamber was a massive vault, protected by "puzzles" of a sort. The tomb had always been known for its patterns, some of which were claimed to have prophetic messages. Naygen apparently became enamored with the patterns and spread them throughout the unseen portions of the chamber as well as the seen. Though the public knew very little of the vault at the time of construction, years later it was found to contain a tremendous amount of royal wealth, something Naygen often publicly encouraged. Of course, most were not able to save the amounts Naygen did, but still the idea of saving one's money for future generations was strongly encouraged by him."
King Naygen's notebook mentions that the D'ni paid to attend music concerts: "In 2408 DE, the 33-year-old musician Airem began selling out concert halls, marking the beginning of yet another career of one of the great D'ni artists. His music also dealt much with the Great King, many times ridiculing him. Naygen praised his people for being able to express 'their true feelings in such wonderful displays of art.'"
When Yeesha recorded her speech about Kadish Tolesa, she mentioned Naygen.
"The bones of Guildmaster Kadish speak louder than words. His bones are the bones of D'ni. He clung to the teachings of good King Naygen who required good citizens to cling to their treasure."
Indeed, we can see examples of what may be D'ni coins in Kadish's vault. There are heaps of gold coins everywhere.
One thing that must be pointed out was how Yeesha chose to spin her words. She made it sound like Naygen ordered D'ni citizens to be miserly, which he did not. Firstly, his words on the subject weren't orders, and secondly, she completely left out the purpose for which he said one should save one's wealth. The DRC notebook about Naygen implies that he believed saving one's money and valuables as an inheritance for one's descendents was a virtue. In a quote from the notebook mentioned above, it was "something Naygen often publicly encouraged. Of course, most were not able to save the amounts Naygen did, but still the idea of saving one's money for future generations was strongly encouraged by him." |
King Kedri Notebook
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Money is mentioned again in the King Kedri notebook, which says: "So the King called his advisers and ordered them to add to the Great Temple so that Yahvo might be pleased and so all of D'ni could visit their god (really it's a form of Yahvo again — I thought god made more sense though) in his house just as those with money (an inherited kind of money) were allowed to do. The King ordered them to add to the Opera House so that all of D'ni could hear the skills of song of the people, just as those with money (an earned kind of money) were allowed to do. The King ordered them to add to the district of Belari, so that the area started by King Rakeri might not fall into disrepair but be treated as all other areas of the city and that all of D'ni might live in prosperity just as those with money (both earned and inherited) were allowed to do."
Note that there are several words for money mentioned in that paragraph. We don't know any of them, but at the very least there seems to have been a distinction between money you earned for yourself and money you inherited.
The translator's notes for the notebook says that there were more than that: "Some trouble spots here. Seems there were a few different kinds of money words — might need help with those as well as the whole 'place' thing." |
King Emen Notebook
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King Emen's notebook mentions that he sold islands to those wealthy enough to afford them: "The popularity of Faresh's mansion, caused others (mainly elite) to request permission to build on the many islands that surrounded the city proper. In 5095, Emen decided to sell many of the islands that, up to that point, had been government property. Records indicate the sale of over twenty-three of the islands, in one year, to private citizens who could afford the heavy price tag." |
Place Notes
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Pirahnay
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Pirahnay was an Age owned by the Guild of Artists, and mentions that they sold their paintings. "Eventually a secret market developed among those in the know, in which link-paintings could be commissioned at very high prices. The fact that the works were painted by known master artists accounted for their value to those unaware of their special properties. The symbol found on the paintings became a mark of exclusiveness available to only the highest ranking members of D’ni society." |
Dahtamnay
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Notes about the Age of Dahtamnay had more specific information about money in D'ni. In that Age, sled pilots called runners were paid for their work.
The runners earned nurē (nurE, pronounced nuh-ree), which is the name of the base unit of D'ni currency. We don't know if there were any other names or denominations of coins or currency, so I can't tell you whether it was the only form. In other words, it could be that the nurē was the only unit of currency in D'ni in the same way that the Yen is the only unit of currency in Japan.
We also know that guilds taxed their members from the notes because it's mentioned that guild runners had guild taxes deducted from their pay. Payment was not in coins, though. Coins can rapidly become heavy and cumbersome to carry around if you have a large quantity.
On the surface, the solution to that was paper money, and later electronic transfers by means of debit and credit cards. The D'ni didn't have paper money. Instead, they used a uniquely D'ni solution. When D'ni workers were paid, it was a transfer of funds to their prådnurētē, which loosely translates as money stones. Money stones were the D'ni version of smart or debit cards. A more literal way to translate the name might be "rock dollars". More information about them will follow. |
Kadish Tolesa
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Kadish Tolesa, along with the King Naygen notebook, are examples that the wealthy could commission private vaults or write Ages to store their wealth. The word tolesa literally translates as "sealed place", but it means vault in the sense of a protected storage place. Ex-Guild Master Kadish was a very successful and wealthy member of the Guild of Writers, and personally wrote Tolesa as a secure facility for his fortune. In the vault the Age was named for, he has heaps of golden coins whose value is not mentioned, valuable art and textiles, fine ceramics, and antique weapons and armor.
With two examples such as those, it isn't farfetched that other extremely wealthy families might have done the same and built their own private vaults. |
DRC Notes
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How were prådnurētē used?
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Saying that prådnurētē were the D'ni equivalent of debit cards is a simplistic way of describing them. They really weren't the same because they were themselves a form of money. Each prådnurē had a set monetary value and so were a form of physical money, but the number of nurētē the stone was worth could be changed. Transferring funds added to and deducted from the value of the stone.
Since the D'ni were highly adept at manipulating stone, their currency made use of that. Most transactions were conducted by a machine one might think of as the D'ni version of an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). The transaction required two money stones, one to deduct value from and one to add value to. The two stones were placed in the machine and it altered their values to reflect the amount that was being transferred from one to the other.
The D'ni also had a means of transferring value from one card to another at a distance. Dr. Watson said that as far as he remembers, it involved some form of neutrino technology that could travel through the rock of the caverns. He went on to say that while he doesn't remember any details, there may have been security features that prevented forgery or using a stolen money stone. Those features were evidently something that could be voluntarily altered by hand, since a money stone could be tendered as payment for purchases or to change ownership when being given to another individual. |
The Guild of Bankers
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Another point Dr. Watson mentioned is that in an advanced society, a person might not want to carry all of his or her money at all times. As mentioned earlier, very wealthy people might own private vaults and either write or commission entire Ages where the vault could be kept away from potential thieves. But that kind of investment was well beyond what the average D'ni could afford.
Instead, the D'ni had a public banking system. The banks were operated by the Guild of Bankers, which was a minor guild. Presumably one of the main services the banks offered was the rental of safe storage boxes and vaults to individuals, businesses and families in which nurē coins, money stones and other valuables could be stored.
Another service the banks may have offered was to sell money stones or convert them into nurē coins. In practice, this meant that the average D'ni would store the majority of his wealth in a bank, and the bank would issue a stone or stones to him that had smaller values for daily transactions.
We don't know what other services the Guild of Bankers offered, but the idea of loaning money for interest payments seems like an obvious thing for them to have done. |
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