Gold Suns (pre-Dimming gold, increasingly rare), Silver Shards (the everyday trading coin), and Copper Slag (crude discs minted by the Union). The Compact backs its coinage with hearth-coal, making warmth itself the gold standard.
The Three Metals
Vorgath's currency is minted from three metals, each with its own colloquial name.
The Gold Sun (gold)
The pre-Dimming gold coin, stamped with the face of King Vorgath III and a radiant sun-sigil. No new gold has been minted since the Dimming — the supply is fixed and slowly shrinking as coins are lost, hoarded, or melted. Gold Suns are the currency of lords, and a single one can feed a village for a week — if anyone would sell.
The Silver Shard (silver)
The workhorse currency. Silver Shards are thin, irregular coins — roughly triangular, as though broken from a larger sheet. Pre-Dimming Shards bore the Suncrest sigil; post-Dimming Shards (minted by the Compact) bear a flame icon. Both circulate at equal value, though some peasants refuse to accept the "blessed" pre-Dimming coins, considering it bad luck to spend a god's face.
The Copper Slag (copper)
Small, crude copper discs minted by the Gilded Slag Union from copper ore drawn from the Grimverns. These are the daily currency of the peasantry — the coin of bread, kindling, and bribes. They tarnish almost immediately in the cold, wet air, earning the nickname "green-hands" for those who carry many.
The Hearth Standard
The Compact backs its currency with hearth-coal — a fixed weight of forge-coal redeemable at Compact treasuries for silver or gold. Since warmth is the most valuable commodity in Vorgath, this gives the Compact's coins an ironclad practical floor. The Caravan does not honor the Hearth Standard and trades in whatever metal the buyer prefers.