Most polities in the world use some form of money in addition to using specie as a medium of exchange. Small ingots of precious metal of standardized weight (called a tael, equal to 38 grams) are especially used in international trade, though in polities with a strong central government (such as the Fire Nation) larger denominations of the national currency may be used.
Although it has varied through history, one silver tael is typically equal in value to one thousand copper coins (the lowest denomination of Earth Kingdom money.) One gold tael (the tael is a unit of weight, not monetary value) is equal in value to about three taels of silver, though it varies from place to place. A platinum tael is worth about five silver taels.
Approximate item and commodity prices, denominated in taels of silver:
Commodity |
Amount |
Price in Silver taels |
Uncooked Rice |
130 kg, a year's supply for one person |
5 |
Uncooked Rice in a good year |
400kg |
8 |
Gold |
1 tael (38g) |
3 |
Platinum |
1 tael (38g) |
5 |
Household fuel in the Northern Earth Kingdom |
8000 kg, a year's supply for a house |
4 |
Edible eggs |
300 eggs |
2 |
Trained Nara badgermole |
1 head |
150 |
Too-good-to-be-true price for an ostensibly-trained badgermole |
1 head |
50 |
Rideable ostrich horse |
1 head |
20 |
A copy of a local gazetteer |
1 book |
1 |
A boat |
1 small |
50-80 depending on condition |
A musical instrument |
1 badgermole horn |
1.5 |
Incomes, approximate, for various classes of person:
Person |
Annual income in silver taels |
Impoverished peasant |
10 |
Working urban poor |
20 |
Frugal student studying for the royal examinations |
30 |
Nonbending city guard, including typical corruption |
35 |
Earthbending soldier in the royal army |
38 |
Skilled artisan |
45 |
Prosperous yeoman farmer |
55 |
Urban civil earthbender |
70 |
Innkeeper-owner |
75 |
Minor official of the Earth Kingdom |
75 |
Mid-ranking Officer in the army of a successful warlord, including war booty |
100 |
Successful traveling merchant |
120 |
Landed noble |
400 |
Income of a low-ranking royal prince of the Hao Ting (inclusive of side hustles, royal subsidy, and fief revenues) |
2500 |
Salary of a Supernal Minister of the Hao Ting (official, not including corruption) |
15000 |
Personal income of a middling warlord, including war booty |
25000 |
Prices of various common services:
Service |
Price in silver taels |
Stay for a night in a poor quality inn |
0.04 |
Stay for a night in a good quality inn |
0.1 |
Minimal meal |
0.002 |
Good meal |
0.007 |
Lavish meal |
0.05 |
A bath in a cheap bathhouse |
0.01 |
A bath in a fine Ganjinese bathhouse |
0.05 |
A high quality music lesson of an hour or so |
0.2 |
Services of common prostitute-entertainer for the night |
0.04 |
Services of a non-bending healer for single visit |
0.05 |
Exorcism of a dangerous spirit by a famous aboriginal shaman |
15 |
Renting a 5m boat for a few days |
3 |
State expenditures:
Item |
Silver Taels |
Construction and furnishing of the Gainan Palace in the Nemuland |
220,000 |
Annual budget of the Earth King's household (inclusive of all maintenance and staffing of the palace complex.) |
6,000,000 |
Compilation of the Imperial Gazetteer of the Great Ri, including embezzlement |
20,000,000 |
Earth Kingdom's Suppression of the Yellow Neck Uprising |
120,000,000 |