Tonkat
From AuroraWiki
The silver Tonkat is the legal currency of Sam'thuma. Tonkat is singular, Tonkata is plural. The word tonkat itself derives from an ancient proto-Jopec term for silver or wealth, t'enketta. Other metals are used as well - currently only the 5-Tonkata and 10-Tonkata coins are actually silver - but the other denominations are all convertable to silver. The standard symbol is an Helosan theta, θ.
Other sub-Tonkat coins are the Einema (aluminum, 1/100 θ), Dinemin (steel, 2/100 θ), and Ptpancu or Ptpan (copper, 25/100 θ). All have holes for carrying by people with no pockets (tied on string or necklace). The issue of Dinemin from 2081 to 2090 had two holes, an attempt to make their "2" denomination obvious by touch. The pair of holes and their 1.5 cm size made them ideal buttons for clothing, and there has been quite a fad in some nations for using them as such. They are still legal tender, but are much less common in Sam'thuma than either pre-2080 or post-2090 issues. Most nations encourage interest in their coinage as collectables, but an outflow of some 650 millions of the two-holed minting seemed excessive to Royal Mint officials.
The practice of carrying one's wealth as clothing ornamentation is a long tradition in Sam'thuma. The Jopec expression SimaH ch'uttisan dhob i nansiTHandi car or roughly in Ingliz "she's wearing a state funeral" means someone is gaudily dressed to the point of utter tastelessness. A similar proverb, that one should not carry more than one state funeral reminds us that too much "baggage" hinders action just as hauling around large amounts of coin would hinder movement. Still, pockets in Sam'thuman clothing tend to be sturdy.
Paper notes are circulated in denominations of 50 θ, 200 θ, and 1000 θ. They are not in widespread use in commerce outside the cities and international finance. Personal cheques drawn on one's bank account or credit line are a very common means of payment for medium-sized transactions, and may change hands a dozen times from business to institution to business again before being presented for deposit at their writer's bank.
These two contrasting issues - wearing coins and worn-out cheques - illustrate some of the city/country divide in Sam'thuma. In the one case, isolated villages have no banks to safeguard wealth. In the other, city dwellers' higher cost of living forces the use of what would be overly weighty amounts of cash. The two together illustrate Sam'thuma's fondness for tradition - both problems have solutions that would go against "how it's always been done".
Value of the Tonkat
As of May 1st, 2015, the value of the tonkat against the auro (∂) is as follows:
- θ 0.449 = ∂ 1
- ∂ 2.229 = θ 1
