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Currency Names
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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Games often times have currency named to evoke the theme of the game. Seems like gaming groups all over the place end up calling them by the name of their local currency, however. Some currency names are just plain weird--made up types of money just for the game.

This list highlights different currency names, many that you rarely if ever hear of outside the game.

When you add a game to this list, please pick the picture that shows the game money if at all possible.
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1. Board Game: Santiago [Average Rating:7.21 Overall Rank:218]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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The money in Santiago is Escudos.

Whoever heard of an Escudo?
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Scott A. Reed
United States
Lawrence
Kansas
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I think Escudos are actual Chilean currency, or so it says in some other geeklist I read.
 
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  • Posted Fri Jun 11, 2004 3:30 am
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Scott A. Reed
United States
Lawrence
Kansas
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Yes, Scrofula, it sucks.
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Dictionary to the rescue; here's the entry from Merriam-Webster:

es·cu·do
1 : any of various former gold or silver coins of Hispanic countries
2 -- see MONEY table
3 : the basic monetary unit of Chile between 1960 and 1975
4 : the peso of Guinea-Bissau
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  • Posted Mon Jun 14, 2004 1:23 pm
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Gary Webster
United States
Littleton
CO
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escudo is the currency (former?) of Portugal, and of Cape Verde. So there.
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  • Posted Tue Jun 15, 2004 7:42 pm
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Mario Aguila
Chile
Puerto Montt
Chile
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The first currency coined in Chile in 1743 was the Escudo. From 1817 it was the Peso.
Again the Escudo from 1960 to 1977. Now is Peso and their symbol is $
 
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  • Posted Wed Aug 24, 2005 4:57 am
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Antonio B-D
Spain
Madrid
Madrid
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gary_webster wrote:
escudo is the currency (former?) of Portugal, and of Cape Verde. So there.


Former. Now in Portugal (and in all civilized countries ) they have Euros.
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  • Posted Wed Sep 26, 2007 5:02 pm
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2. Board Game: Cosmic Encounter [Average Rating:6.99 Overall Rank:361]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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Cosmic Enounter's money is called Lucre. According to Webster, this word means "gain in money, goods, profit, or riches--often in an ill sense."

How appropriate for this game!
 
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Fraser
Australia
Melbourne
admin
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Yep that was 12 Power Grid maps back to back over two days. Worth doing, but possibly not in such a concentrated burst.
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And let us not forget that the word that most often preceeds "lucre" is "filthy"
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  • Posted Wed Aug 24, 2005 8:23 am
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3. Board Game: Alhambra [Average Rating:7.05 Overall Rank:241]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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Alhambra. SdJ winner from 2003 features four different currencies: Denars, Dirhams, Ducats, and Florins.

A Florin with no Guilder? Inconceivable!
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I want a stick for Christmas?
Canada
Kanata
ON
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Unbelievable!
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  • Posted Fri Jun 11, 2004 2:33 am
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Dave Peters
United States
Belmont
California
Powers:Coleridge:Milton: Faith...must be, if anything, a clear-eyed recognition of the patterns and tendencies, to be found in every piece of the world's fabric, which are the lineaments of God.
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Nice _Princess Bride_ reference, Dave.
 
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  • Posted Fri Jun 11, 2004 5:56 am
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Teague Webb
United States
Columbus
Ohio
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Dave V,
You keep using this word; I do not think it means what you think it means.....???
 
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  • Posted Fri Jun 11, 2004 5:36 pm
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I want a stick for Christmas?
Canada
Kanata
ON
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My God! He's climbing.
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  • Posted Fri Jun 11, 2004 7:37 pm
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Michael Anderson
United States
Sundance
Wyoming
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I'm typing this comment left handed ??? ... otherwise it will be over too quickly.
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  • Posted Sat Jun 12, 2004 6:17 am
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4. Board Game: Medieval Merchant [Average Rating:6.79 Overall Rank:734]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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Here are the Guilders, hiding in the Medieval Merchant box.
 
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5. Board Game: Saint Petersburg [Average Rating:7.36 Overall Rank:118]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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St. Petersburg uses good old-fashioned Rubles.
 
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6. Board Game: New England [Average Rating:6.61 Overall Rank:792]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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New England's game money is Shillings.

New England's money pitcher is Schilling.

Schilling is a gamer.

Sort of an interesting symmetry there.
 
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Gary Webster
United States
Littleton
CO
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As long as you're not a "schill" for the game. I am.
 
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  • Posted Tue Jun 15, 2004 7:43 pm
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7. Board Game: Auf Achse [Average Rating:6.34 Overall Rank:1360]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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I chose Auf Achse as the game using Marks because it's got some of the nicest money of any game out there. Glossy finished cards, easy to hold and count. Well done!
 
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8. Board Game: Kingdoms [Average Rating:6.66 Overall Rank:634]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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Auf Heller und Pfennig uses Hellers. And Pfennigs as well, I suppose.

 
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9. Board Game: Bohnanza [Average Rating:7.13 Overall Rank:198]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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Talers are used in quite a few games. Bohnanza is the first one that I remember seeing that used them, so I'm listing it first.
 
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10. Board Game: Hansa [Average Rating:6.98 Overall Rank:313]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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Hansa also uses Talers.
 
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11. Board Game: Marracash [Average Rating:6.85 Overall Rank:771]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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Marracash also uses Dirhams. But the first Game Cabinet translation calls the money dollars.
 
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12. Board Game: Samarkand [Average Rating:6.48 Overall Rank:1261]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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Samarkand, the market where the only cash they'll accept is the Piaster.

Thanks to Caleb Diffell for correcting my original errors in this listing.
 
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13. Board Game: Money! [Average Rating:6.63 Overall Rank:724]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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Money. This game features beautiful cards showing different currencies: Kronor, Dollars, Euros, Francs, Pounds, Rubles, Yen, Krugerands, and "play money", which looks suspiciously like Monopoly money.
 
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14. Board Game: Chinatown [Average Rating:7.21 Overall Rank:222]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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Chinatown's Dollars are also great game money. Nicely finished miniature cards that look like real dollars.
 
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15. Board Game: Das Amulett [Average Rating:6.53 Overall Rank:1235]
Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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The money in Das Amulett is energy stones.
 
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Dave VanderArk
United States
Coopersville
Michigan
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There are actually two types of currency in Das Amulett. You buy spells with energy stones, and you buy jewels with cards showing different types of metals--gold, silver, iron, or copper.
 
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  • Posted Wed Aug 18, 2004 1:52 pm
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16. Board Game: Groo: The Game [Average Rating:6.22 Overall Rank:1911]
Jody Morgan
United States
Fancy Gap
Virginia
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Groo: The Game uses Kopins, rolled on dice along with other resources such as labor (or people), supplies (or bags), and Groo Heads (always referred to, with great dread, as Groo Heads).

(Miniatures not included, alas...)
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17. Board Game: Funkenschlag [Average Rating:7.65 Overall Rank:399]
Lynne Lewellen
United States
Unspecified
Unspecified
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Funkenschlag and Power Grid uses Elektros.
 
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18. Board Game: Auto Market [Average Rating:7.00 Unranked]
Andrea Angiolino
Italy
Rome
European Union
designer
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The currencies in this game are dollars, yens and ECUs. ECU was a computation currency that has never been printed into banknotes, but at that time (1994) we needed an European currency and Euro was still far from being concieved. So the only existing ECU banknotes are those in that game... Or in any other game that you may know?
 
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Andrea Angiolino
Italy
Rome
European Union
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This one, for example... European Monopoly, 1992.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8104
 
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  • Posted Fri Jun 11, 2004 1:31 pm
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Richard Lea
United Kingdom
Leeds
County: West Yorkshire
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An écu was also a pre-revolutionary unit of French currency. I favoured the name Ecu over Euro for the new Euro-currency. But they wouldn't listen (except in France).
 
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  • Posted Sun Jun 20, 2004 3:49 pm
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Andreas Johansson
Sweden
Linköping
I spent 200 GG and all I got was this lousy overtext!
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It may be mentioned that écu is in origin the same word as escudo, mentioned above.
 
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  • Posted Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:35 pm
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19. Board Game: Marco Polo: Dragonda [Average Rating:5.69 Unranked]
Andrea Angiolino
Italy
Rome
European Union
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This game was made after am Italian TV serial about Marco Polo. To copyright something, they invented "Dragonda" - it sounds like the name of an exotioc land, whose name and logo are a mix of a dragon and a "gondola" (the typical Venetian little boat). And this name was famous for the name of the currency that was... That was... Can anybody remember?
 
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Nikos Parissos
Greece
Glyfada
Attiki
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the Currency was florins. I miss that game
 
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  • Posted Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:47 pm
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20. Board Game: Pirate's Cove [Average Rating:6.65 Overall Rank:569]
Bien F V
United States
Chino
California
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Arrr....Doubloons
 
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21. Board Game: Illuminati [Average Rating:6.30 Overall Rank:1262]
Justin Green
United States
Des Moines
Iowa
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Megabucks! Tiny...fiddly...Megabucks!
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22. Board Game: Vino [Average Rating:6.54 Overall Rank:1217]
Justin Green
United States
Des Moines
Iowa
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The currency for Vino is called...the "Vino". Uninspired? Or a play on "Euro"? Get it? Arlo, Esso, Tivo, Euro, Vino, Double-euro, Exo, Why-oh-why-oh, Zeno....

I'm sorry.
 
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Gary Webster
United States
Littleton
CO
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It's OK. Take two dinars and call me in the morning.
 
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  • Posted Tue Jun 15, 2004 7:44 pm
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23. Board Game: Orcz [Average Rating:5.49 Overall Rank:6053]
Nelson Lamoureux
Canada
Kangiqsualujjuaq
Québec
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I guess an argument could be made with Orcz that the money is goblin. Quite innovative if you ask me!
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Justin Green
United States
Des Moines
Iowa
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I've been waiting from someone to bring up the "currency" of Nuclear War.
 
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  • Posted Fri Jun 11, 2004 6:38 pm
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24. Board Game: Puerto Rico [Average Rating:8.26 Overall Rank:3]
Nelson Lamoureux
Canada
Kangiqsualujjuaq
Québec
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Doubloon, again!
 
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25. Board Game: Ikusa [Average Rating:7.06 Overall Rank:316]
Amit Akbar
Netherlands
Unspecified
Zuid-Holland
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The "currency" here is called Koku. A koku stands for the amount of rice needed to feed one man for a year. One koku chip in the game stands for thousands of koku, as raising armies tend/tended to be a rather expensive exercition.
 
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Japan
Tokyo
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Samurai et Katana also has the Koku as its monetary unit.
 
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  • Posted Fri Jun 11, 2004 7:46 pm
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Alex Rockwell
United States
Bothell
Washington
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And of course, how many games use civilization's traditional money, precious metals? More than I could count...

Also interesting is when a game uses points as money, as in medici and modern art.
 
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  • Posted Sat Jun 19, 2004 8:29 pm
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Fraser
Australia
Melbourne
admin
designer
Yep that was 12 Power Grid maps back to back over two days. Worth doing, but possibly not in such a concentrated burst.
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Ooh yes, now a little to the left - my nose is itchy. No, no the other left! Now what colour is 12 supporter badge going to be I wonder?
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And here's a list of current and some not so currenty real world currencies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_4217 (has links to the official ISO url and also some older versions with extra history).
 
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  • Posted Wed Aug 24, 2005 8:19 am
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Andreas Johansson
Sweden
Linköping
I spent 200 GG and all I got was this lousy overtext!
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I spent 200 GG and all I got was this lousy overtext!
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David Vander Ark wrote:
Seems like gaming groups all over the place end up calling them by the name of their local currency, however.

That's not my experience. We always end up calling them pengar "monies", even if the rules stipulate them to be kronor (the local currency).
 
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  • Edited Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:50 pm
  • Posted Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:47 pm
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