Economy

    When the Confederacy was adopted, its members agreed to establish a common monetary system to facilitate trading between kingdoms.  Before the Confederacy, each race had its own type of money system, or no system at all to facilitate trade on a large scale.  In many cases, another kingdom's money had no value in your kingdom beyond its intrinsic value as a precious metal.  This made both traveling comfortably and trading nearly impossible.  The only way to barter was to carry with you objects of value, such as rings, jewels, large amounts of valuable metals or trade goods.
     Crowns, Linert and Pennies were the names of coins in common use, and of the same metals in most realms.  The Confederacy decided to keep these names in order to make the change the most comfortable for those who had been aware of coinage and used it in the past.  The people were used to calling their kings-minted coin of gold a Crown, and the ancient term for a silver piece was the Linert, which roughly translated into the worth of a 12th part of a pound of silver.  It is believed that silver was the basis for an economy used previously in Thardferr, perhaps by the Syth, before the humans and dwarves rebelled against them.  The Penny goes back almost as long and has always represented the smallest value for a days work.
     The race most happy about this change and the keeping of the names was the Gnomes.  It was one of the reason that they joined the Confederacy.  No longer would they have to carry great amounts of different realm's currency unusable while traveling where it was not accepted or worth its represented value.  It would allow their trading throughout the kingdoms to be much more profitable, make record keeping easier, give a base for even the most common of peoples to make trades and buy goods, and give them the advantage of not having to always ship back trade goods they had acquired and not been able to sell or trade while on the road.  Soon after joining the Confederacy, the Gnomes began to trade in earnest and much money came into the Alderd coffers.

     Here is the monetary system that was decided using the most commonly minted values from the separate realms.  All coins were made of precious metals (gold, silver or copper) with some minute strengthening impurities. Their size would vary to give different value to the piece, and they would represent a certain set worth in trade goods or precious metals, as each realm would hold in their treasuries but would also have their intrinsic worth as insurance.

    1 Endor = 5 Crowns* = 10 Villiers = 50 Linert* = 100 Coppers = 500 Pennies*

The size and make of the coins are:

Coin Name	Coin Metal	Coin Weight (American coin size)
Endor	gold	12 pieces to the pound (silver dollar)
Crown*	gold	50 pieces to the pound (penny)
Villier	silver	24 pieces to the pound (quarter)
Linert	silver	50 pieces to the pound (penny)
Copper	copper	24 pieces to the pound (quarter)
Penny*	copper	50 pieces to the pound (penny)

* These three coins represent the standard GP, SP and CP from the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd. Edition Player's Handbook.

(50 pieces to the pound is roughly the size of an American penny, 24 pieces is roughly the size of an American quarter, and 12 pieces is roughly the size of an American dollar.)

 

Realm-specific Economy information can be found here.

More information on the monetary system and coinage, including Realm-specific coinage information, can be found here.

Taxes

     The trade, buying and selling of non-real-estate is not taxed per se in the Confederacy, but there are a few tariffs that are put on the large movements of resources.  This makes up very little of the moneys collected by the kingdoms, though.  The amount of taxation is different in all the different realms, with none at all in Edilar, and the greatest amount in Tuth and Lithar.  These moneys are used for the maintenance of the roads, bridges and armies of the realms.
     The taxes are based on a census that is made by each King of the males in his realm.  Certain land-owning  women of nobility are also counted.  This census and an accounting of the persons' holdings decide the amount and number of times a person is taxed.  Only 40% of those in each Kingdom are generally taxed on a yearly basis, though at times almost everyone will have to pay some tariff or toll.  Taxes are collected by representatives of the King of each realm.  These Representatives of the King  will have hirelings in many areas who live near to those from which they collect taxes.  This is in order to have more knowledge of their property and holdings, and to help to keep down cheating and evasions.

     Some of the means in which the people are taxed are listed below.

    Land Tax:  Each land owner must pay one fifth of their lands' yield to the King each year.  This would include one fifth of their livestock or one fifth of the food they produce.  If land is not producing then they must make up for the tax with either money or service to the Realm.

    Property Tax:  Each person must pay one fifth of the worth of their property within a protected town or city to the King once per year.  This payment may be in money, goods or service to the Realm.

    Experimentation Tax:  One fifth of the potential damage that the person's experimentation may cause is to be paid to the King.

    Income Tax:  Each person of wealth or nobility shall pay one tenth of their collected income gained since the previous year to the King.

    Sales Tax:  On the sale of land or stationary property one tenth of the worth of such will be paid to the King.

    Estate Tax:  On the passing of an estate from the deceased to their relative, a suitable tax will be collected for the King.  In most cases the cost is that of one twentieth of the worth of the estate.  Special cause and cases will apply.

    Usury Tax:  One hundredth of all money lent shall be paid to the King.

    Grazing Tax:  One Linert per month is to be paid to the King for each hundred acre in which you graze your livestock upon the King's land or within the King's forest.

    Slave Tax:  One Linert will be paid for each slave owned by the person each year.

    Import Tariff:  Each wagon-load of goods or produce imported from one realm to another is subject to a tariff of one Linert.  A receipt of payment is given to avoid multiple tariff collection.  The receipt is good for one month after date received.

    Tolls: Certain roads, bridges, ferries and gates are subject to a toll.  The toll fee is one Penny per horse or one Copper per wagon.

    Emergency Levy:  This is collected at times of emergency or war.  Such levy will not be more than one fifth of land production or property worth.

Trade and Craft Guilds

     In the Confederacy of Thardferr there are certain Trade and Crafts Guilds that provide the teaching of the professions and maintain a guiding rule for the crafts to keep trade fair.  After the last Mage War many of the guilds were destroyed or abandoned, but many merchants combined their remaining funds and know-how, in order to help rebuild the economy of Thardferr.  The Merchants' Guild that they formed was named the Watchers of Twilight.  This was a group of merchants and other guild leaders who decided that the way to rebuild Thardferr after the war, was better done by mutual help rather than by competition.  Under the banner of the Watchers of Twilight, the lost guilds were reestablished, roads were patrolled and cleared of menaces while trade routes were reformed, and a hope for normalcy was instilled in many.  Though the times have been rough, and not all the goals of this guild were successful, they did get the guilds and craft halls to get back up and running.

The separate trade and craft guilds within the Confederacy are:

•     Apothecaries, Chandlers, Charcoalers, Courtesans, Embalmers
•     Glassworkers, Heralds, Hideworkers, Hookers and Dyers
•     Innkeepers, Jewelers Guild, Lexicographers, Litigants
•     Locksmiths, Masons, Metalsmiths, Millers, Miners, Ostlers
•     Papermakers, Perfumers, Physicians, Pilots, Potters
•     Rope and Netmakers, Salters, Shipwrights, Teamsters
•     Tentmakers, Thespians, Timberwrights, Weaponscrafters
•     Weavers and Clothiers, Whalers, Woodcrafters

     Some or parts of these are linked to the Watchers of Twilight by their merchants and traders.

 

Realm-specific Economy information can be found here.

More information on the monetary system and coinage, including Realm-specific coinage information, can be found here.

Thanks to Forsak and ?kluu for this page.