¿How much is 1 gold piece (gp) worth in US dollars?
So, a couple of weeks ago, I published a blog post where I estimated the value of 1 gp in Mexican pesos (Mxp), as a way to give players a point of reference between D&D and real-world prices. What set aside my estimate from others was that, instead of calculating the exchange rate using the intrinsic value of the coin (actual weight of the coin vs the current cost of gold per lb), I calculated its value based on its estimated purchasing power. Since it is not easy getting GDP, inflation rates and other macroeconomic factors from a fantasy realm, I decided to use information about the estimated yearly income by social class in Mexico as a proxy (figure 1) and compare it with the “social” structure presented in the Players Handbook / 5e SRD (figure 2).
Figure 1
Figure 2
Based on this, I estimated that 1gp equals about 850 pesos (or $ 44 usd).
After the post was published, I immediately started getting questions from players outside Mexico (US, Spain, Colombia, Peru) asking me if they could take this figure and translate it into other home currency using market exchange rates. I ran some quick calculations to see if this would work, but this “translation” did not work as expected. Thus, I decided to expand my original article to include other countries, using whatever socioeconomic information I can get for their countries.
Today we start with the U.S.A.
First off, getting the actual social class structure of the US was a bit of a challenge. Although there are several reputable databases/reports with this data, the way social classes are defined by each agency/think tank varies considerably, especially for the Upper Middle, Upper class and “Rich” classifications. In the end, I settled for data from (1) the US Census Bureau and from (2) the Pew Research Center in Washington. Using information from their latest 2017-2018 reports, I created the tables shown below (figures 3 and 4).
Figures 3 and 4
Side note: I did not include my full, detailed calculation in this post, but I can gladly share it with anyone interested. You can contact me at admin@thedeathdieclub.com
Another one of the challenges I faced, was the difference between the US structure and the “medieval fantasy” class distribution. When I did the estimate for Mexico, both class system had a pyramid shape, which translated into a higher degree of correlation between data-sets. In Mexico, 56% of the population is classified as Low Income, 27% classified as Middle Class, and 17% classified as Upper Class/Rich.
In the case of the US, 2017 data shows 29% of the population is classified as low income, 52% is classified as Middle class, and 19% is classified as Upper Class. Having a diamond shape structure instead of a pyramid shape, caused the estimated purchasing power to swing wildly. Using the upper-class data yielded an exchange rate of $50-70 usd per gp, while the lower income bracket yielded a result of $ 480-520 usd per gp. To smooth out the calculations, I decided to eliminate the tails of the curve, and concentrate in the middle class.
Based on these assumptions, I got an estimated exchange rate of $ 175 usd per gold piece.
What does this imply for players?
Assuming this exchange rate is correct, here are some interesting data points for your players, the ones should help them get an idea of how much money their PCs have/spend compared to real world:
- All PCs start the game (level 1) with a certain amount of savings, the ones range from 700 usd for a monk (4gp) up to 35,000 usd for some lucky players (max quantity for a bard, cleric, fighter, paladin or ranger)
- A leather armor would cost around 1,750 usd (10gp). If you think that is expensive, a Plate Mail armor would run in excess of 250K usd, which would be the equivalent of a top tier Brioni o Demond Merrion bespoke suit. Try to keep that in mind the next time you see someone in full plate armor walking down the street!
- Simple weapons like daggers, maces and hammers would cost between 150 and 350 usd. Heavier weapons (sword, axes) would run between 1,500 and 5,500 usd.
- With these prices, players would think twice about wasting their holy water or their poison, the ones would cost 4,300 usd (25 gp) y 17,500 usd (100 gp) respectively for a single vial.
- For bards, the price of a lute/lyre would average 5,000 usd, which equals the price of a very decent Fender vintage guitar.
- Assuming your PCs can buy magical items in your campaign and using the DMGs as a reference, a common magical object would cost between 8K and 18K usd (50-100 gp), while legendary objects would have a minimum cost of 8.7M usd (50,000 gp).
- In terms of mounts and vehicles:
- A cart and a mule would cost you between 3.5-4.5K usd, the equivalent of a 10+ year old Honda Civic.
- A carriage with 2 draft horses would cost roughly the same as a new Sedan (35K usd or 200 gp), but if you see a fighter riding a warhorse with full metal barding and a military saddle, you know he/she spent at least 200K usd in it (equivalent of a 2019 Ferrari).
- Finally, if you are interested in ocean adventures, be aware that ship prices range from 8K usd (50gp) for a small row boat, up to 4.3M usd for a Warship.
What do you think about these estimates?
