Cash, Coins, and the Economy
The reationship between medieval and modern wages.

Background

Both in the original books and in the orginal Amber rule books very little is made of cash and economics. Amberites just wander about and find what ever coins or cash they need to do what they want, whilst the world carries on about them. The problem this poses is in a modern cashless societyis,  how do I exchange my backpack full of assorted coins, gems and other valuables for cash, especially given the levels of controls on such items in a modern society, mainly to reduce fraud and organised crime. The other question is that my pocket full of coins may actually be worthless, especially as modern coins contain no base metal (silver or gold) and haven't done for several hundred years.

In my own campaigns, and one in particular, things get even worse, where you effectively have a 21st centurary economy shadow conjoined with a "Medieval" economy shadow, and exactly what is meant by a "medievel" economy shadow. If it's one that's based on base metal coins, the ubiuitous silver penny, then that's just a meaningless.

Silver coins were used from Ancient Roman times right through to the early 1800s but their value changed significantly. In Rome a silver penny was worth about £20, but in Anglo-Saxon England circa 1000AD its worth £90, but by 1890 its only worth 50p.

Also what is a silver penny? In modern currency the only silver pennies are what are called "Bullion Pennies" and weigh a Troy Ounce or 31.2g. It's also what the above figures are quoted against. However, coins in medieval periods are actually much lighter between 1.2 and 1.5g.

Aside from the coinage and it's value you have "well what do people earn?". If you take Anglo-Saxon England circa 1000AD as a medieval economy, then a skilled craftman such as a smith earnt between 1sp and 2sp a day, where as your average joe proably was earning about a hapenny (half-penny) and an unskilled labourer maybe a farthing (fouth-thing = 1/4 of a penny). But if you take the late Tudor period as a medieval economy then your looking at 3-4sp, and by the late 1700s 5-7sp. By the time you get to the Victorian era, then things change again so a lawyer or House Steward would earn £50-£100 per year (if you're interested in this stuff then this site is a good starting point Victorian Domestic Servant Hierarchy and Wage Scale).

Implementation

Bearing in mind all of the above, and also that Amber, and though Amber the Golden Circle has access to post industrial, modern, and future tech even if they don't work there, the first logical thing to do is standardize all the coins. This means that all Golden Circle realms, and I'll include Carnelian here for my own campaigns, mint pure silver coins weighing 1.3g giving 24 coins to the Troy Ounce (31.2g). All Golden Cirlce realms accept Amber minted coins at face value as does Amber. Whether a realm accepts anothers coins at face value varies from realm to realm. Carnelian only accepts Amber, Nancheng, Dakota, and Maenois coins at face value. Where a Golden Circle realm does not accept another Golden circle realm at face value any mint of that realm will exchange coins at a 22 to 24 ratio (you hand over 24 coins and get 22 back). Most will also accept any other pure silver minted coin but the exchange rate is variable anything between 16 and 20 per 24 coins (alot depends on the purity of the silver and the silver content of the coin). The rate for pure bar silver is 22 coins per troy ounce of silver. Larger traders within the Golden circle will often accept bar silver (provided it carries a Golden Realm mint mark) in lieu of coins for high value transactions, and most will also accept Gold coins.
Gold coins are minted in 2 denominations, 6.5g and 31.2g. The typical  exchange rate is 20:1 silver to gold, so the 6.5g coin is equivalent to 100sp and the 31.2g coin is equivalent to 480sp, however mints will typically give 86->90sp for the 6.5g coin and 450->460sp for the 31.2g coin.
The Golden Cirlce economy in terms of wages is broadly equivalent to the late 1700s with a highly skilled craftsman typically earning 8sp per day (40sp per week[6days]) and an average worker earning 3sp per day (15sp per week[6days]).
Prior to the Rodian war, and in a scenario where Modern Carnelian does not come into existance then Carnelian is treated as a Golden Circle state. In my AiRP campaign, where Modern Carnelian (and specifically Mizzurian) exists in the connected Shadow, thing are vastly different and adjusted for the impact of Modern Carnelian. In this setting the wage of a highly skilled craftsman rises to 32sp per day with an average worker earning 17sp per day.
With Mizzurian present, and it's employees able to move between Earth, Modern Carnelian, and Medieval Carnelian the necessity arises to control exchange rates, to prevent massive cost inflation to the detriment of Medieval Carnelian residents. To this end  Mizzurian employees are restricted on the portion of their salary they can take in Carnelian coins.
The exchange rate is set at selling:$18 per Troy Ounce, buying:$20 per Troy Ounce (i.e you buy coins at $20 and sell coins at $18). This gives the average Carnelian worker a yearly equivalent income of $4038 and a skilled worker a yearly equivalent income of $7600. Mizurian therefore restricts its employees to taking between $4275 and $12,000 per Carnelian year in coins equivalent to between 18sp and 48sp per day. For those who choose to live in Carnelian and work in the Carnelian office, this means that in actuality, because of the relative time ratios, they spend between $11,400 and $32,000 of their salary on coins. The remainder they can use 3 ways, they can pay it all or a portion of it into their standard American bank account, they can pay it all or a portion of it into the Swiss Bank Banque Privée Barrimen & Cie, they can invest upto 3% in Mizzurian shares (Only 20% of  Mizzurian shares are publically listed on NASDAQ), or they can invest it in Mizzurian Bonds, in increments of $10000. These are Mizzurian issued bonds with a 10 year duration and pay 7% interest. After the Expo launch these jumped from trading at $10121 to $10796.
In the Modern Carnelian scenario, all coins are still minted by the Carnelian mint located in the Castle, but there are additionally 3 places that provide "Bureau De Change" facilities. These are located in the Medieval Town Hall, Modern Town Hall, and Mizzurian Offices (adjacent to the post room). All of these will aside from exchanging US Dollars, change Earth Bullion silver or gold coins to Carnelian silver or gold coins. Bullion silver coins of 1oz Troy weight can be traded for 22sp, and 1oz Gold coins can be traded at the rate of 20:18. Silver and gold coins from shadow can only be exchanged at the Mint.

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