Post-apocalyptic currency

[Jackolantern]

I am working on a post-apocalyptic game, and I am trying to find a currency for people to use. The game takes place in an urban setting, not long at all after the apocalypse. Obviously in reality the world would be using a barter system, but that just won't work for the game. I have never liked the concept of "bottle caps" in Fallout, as there is no inherent or perceived value in bottle caps. They are just garbage, thus I don't understand how people would have agreed it has de facto value. The dollar would most definitely fall apart immediately with no government to back it up, but I am stumped to come up with something to use.

My initial idea was gold and silver rings, as precious metal is the oldest currency system around. But that poses a problem as well. People need to be able to buy items as small as a bullet or an arrow, or as big as a car. A silver ring is pricey for a single bullet, and how many bullets would equal a car? 20,000 or more? Where would all those rings come from? Bullets would be a utilitarian choice, but then that adds the complication of people needing to load the game's currency into their gun and fire it.

Anyone have any ideas? I guess at this point I am leaning towards "gold bits", without really elaborating on what those "bits" are, but they would presumably be small. But I am still looking for something better!

[Callan S.]

Have a small change currency of potatos that gold rings can be exchanged for? Thus 'small potatos'?

I'm not sure I see any problem with having to load your game currency into a gun and firing it. The only problem I see is how do you buy a bullet to begin with - with bullets?

It highlights how belief based our economy is, in contrast to here where you would have to generate actual here and now useful goods (like growing vegetables) in order to get to trade for the main currency.

Stick with having gold and silver rings - that sounds quite cool to me!

Potatos == copper coins, if you get my D&D reference!

[Xaos]

Yeah, i'd just go with a food as currency, unless you have something else to use it for. I mean this kind of goes into "barter", but really, isn't buying just bartering anyway?

Could just call it Rations. IE you could buy 1 round of bullets for your pistol with one ration, but it would take X amount of rations to buy a car. Could also lead to things like "Do you want to turn this kill into rations" and whatnot. Another idea could be hard, useful metals (even though gold and silver have been 'currency' for a long time, they are rather useless, especially gold, and were only used as currency after civilization) like Bronze, Copper, Aluminum, Iron. Could do glass as well. Makes sense as its really useful, and could manipulate in many ways.

[Callan S.]

Rations sounds good. It simplifies barter down to a basic currency for simple implementation into a game.

[Jackolantern]

Food is actually going to be used as well (you have to eat or you die). I would like to have a bartering system, but I also want to offer an auction house or sorts (basically black-market brokers), so there needs to be a way to automate it. I know that having auction houses in an apocalyptic world is a little unrealistic, but it would be a huge help for some of the mechanics. And there is probably always someone out to make a buck in any situation anyway lol.

Yeah, maybe a 2 tier system with the silver and gold rings sounds good. It also gives me a rationale to find currency on enemies

[Callan S.]

Rations seem a valid type of currency to me.

It's not going to just be auction housing food for food - there are qualative differences between raw food stuffs and prepared rations.

[hallsofvallhalla]

Nothing wrong with a story behind the currency like two metal stamp presses were found in working condition for a chucky cheese/game type place where they stamped their own tokens. Because of the rarity in the machines and that lack of machinery to make replicas they were turned into currency as they are very hard to replicate and the organization stamping them offers food for the coins which in turn gives them value.

[Jackolantern]

Nothing wrong with a story behind the currency like two metal stamp presses were found in working condition for a chucky cheese/game type place where they stamped their own tokens. Because of the rarity in the machines and that lack of machinery to make replicas they were turned into currency as they are very hard to replicate and the organization stamping them offers food for the coins which in turn gives them value.

Haha! That is awesome! Everyone at the end of the world could be hording Chucky Cheese coins! Sadly I did hours of programming all night last night to go ahead and fit the game with the 2 tiers of rings

[Verahta]

My suggestion is to go with real history. Ancient civilizations used crudely smelted coins, scraps of metal and bullion ingots and bars. Ancient peoples made metal bars, they certainly were not as pure as today, but they got the job done.

Also, think about something useful having value. The Aztecs, I think it was them anyways, had an obsidian based economy. Obsidian rock was cut into chunks and used as money. This is because they used it for all their tools and weapons and it was literally the most useful substance they had so it became money itself.

[Callan S.]

Having daggers as a currency in itself is cool!