" The five ships, it might be added, must be of at least medium class. In a round ship this means she would be able, in earth figures, to freight between approximately one hundred and one hundred and fifty tons below deck. I have calculated this figure from the Weight, a Gorean unit of measurement based on the stone, which is about four earth pounds. A weight is ten stone. A medium class round ship should be able to carry from 5,000 to 7500 Gorean weight. The weight and the stone incidentally are standardized throughout the Gorean cities, by Merchant Law, the only common body of law existing among the cities. The official "stone" actually a solid metal cylinder, is kept, by the way, near the Sardar. Four times a year, on a given day in each of the four great fairs held annually near the Sardar, it is brought forth with scales, the merchants from whatever city may test their own standard "stone" against it. The "Stone" of port kar, tested against the official "stone" at the Sardar, reposed in a special fortified building in the great arsenal, which complex was administered by agents of the Council of Captains. To be sure we knew generically what was being borne. It was not difficult to tell. Normal goods, exports of bar iron, and such, do not move in the city in such numbers. It is true, of course, that sometimes wagons would congregate at meeting places near gates, the wagons, say, of various manufacturers and merchants, and then travel on the roads in convoys, as a protection against brigandage, but in such a case the wagons, having different points of origin, would not form their convoy until in the vicinity of the gates, and, indeed, sometimes outside them, in order to avoid blocking streets. But the formation of such convoys, too, are usually advertised on the public boards, this information being of interest to various folks, say, merchants who might wish to ship goods, teamsters, guards, and such, who might wish employment, and folks wishing to book passage. Sometimes, incidentally, rich merchants can manage a convoy by themselves, but even so they will usually accommodate the wagons of others in their convoys. There is commonly safety in numbers and the greater the numbers usually the greater the safety. A fee is usually charged for entering wagons in a convoy, this primarily being applied to defray the costs of guards. Too, in some cases, it may be applied to tolls, drinking water, provender for animals, and such. Some entrepreneurs make their living by the organization, management and supply of convoys."
Magicians of Gor pg 102 - 103

"In my new burnoose and sash, a rather ostentatious yellow and purple, befitting, however, a local merchant, or peddler, who wishes to call attention to himself, I myself went about the shops, making purchases."
Tribesmen of Gor pg 134

"The tarn I had sold in Kasra, for four golden tarn disks."
Tribesmen of Gor pg 43

"I tossed the tarn keeper a golden tarn disk. He had done his job well. He stammered, holding it out to me, for me to take it back. A golden tarn disk was a small fortune. It would buy one of the great birds themselves, or as many as five slave girls."
Tarnsman of Gor pg 191

"A hundred pieces of gold, for example, is a great deal of money to be carrying about, particularly standardized tarn disks. Indeed, on Gor it is a fortune. It would not have been absurd if he had had with him not the gold, but only a note, to be drawn on one of the bank, like strongholds. On Brundisium's Street of Coins. Had that been the case I would have attempted to cast doubt on the value of the note. Many of the ruffians probably could not read. Too, there were the sort of men who would be inclined to distrust financial papers, such as letters of credit, drafts, checks, and such. Certainly such things were not like a coin in their fist or a woman in their arms."
Vagabonds of Gor pg 467

"'Ulafi should have been recruited," said the dark haired girl. "He will do anything for gold." "Except betray his merchant codes," said he who was called Kunguni. I was pleased to hear this, for I was rather fond of the tall regal Ulafi. Apparently they did not regard him as a likely fellow to be used in the purchase of stolen notes on speculation, to be resold later to their rightful owner. Many merchants, I was sure, would not have been so squeamish. Such dealings, of course, would encourage the theft of notes. It was for this reason that they were forbidden by the codes. Such notes, their loss reported, are to be canceled, and replaced with alternate notes."
Explorers of Gor pg 148

"'You must put men upon Schendi's Street of Coins," I said. "Shaba must not be permitted to cash the notes he carries." .... "Why could you not apprehend Shaba at the banks?" I asked. "He never cashed the notes," said Msaliti. I looked at him. "He feared to do so?" I asked. "We were tricked," said Msaliti. "He signed the notes over to Bila Huruma, and it was agents of the Ubar himself, who cashed them." "Twenty-thousand tarns of gold," I said. "The money," said Msaliti, in fury, "is being invested in the formation of a fleet of a hundred ships, fully fitted and supplied, and crewed with fifty men each. These ships are being specifically built to be sectioned and rejoinable, to make possible their portage about difficult areas.'"
Explorers of Gor pg 215 - 226

"The merchants of Port Olni, of course, would not be sustaining the enormous expense of such an expedition. They were not intimately involved in the hide traffic and, if they had been, as merchants, their procedures, initially, at any rate, would have been mercantile and not military."
Savages of Gor pg 91

"'I am a merchant," said Mintar, "and it is in my code to see that I am paid."
Tarnsman of Gor pg 121

"Mintar relaxed on the cushions and seemed pleased. I realized, to my amusement, that he had been afraid that some particle of his investment might have been sacrificed. He would have had a man killed rather than risk the loss of a tenth of a tarn disk, so well he knew the codes of his caste."
Tarnsman of Gor pg 121

"'A merchant maybe as brave as a warrior, young tarnsman," smiled Mintar."
Tarnsman of Gor pg 175

"I removed one of the heavy granite blocks of stone, building stone, rectangular, some six inches by six inches, by eighteen inches, from the tiered pile of stones. It was building stone brought in by a quarry galley several weeks ago. The intended purchaser had defaulted on his contract and the stone was to be stored over the winter, beside the quarry warehouse, until the following spring, when it was to be auctioned. In the spring prices tend to be highest on such materials."
Rogue of Gor pg 249

"My four commercial voyages had been among the exchange islands, or free islands, in Thassa, administered as free ports by members of the merchants. There were several such islands. Three, which I encountered frequently in my voyages, were Teletus, and south of it, Tabor, named for the drum, which it resembles, and, to the north, among the northern islands, Scagnar. Others were Farnacium, Hulneth and Asperiche. I did not go as far south as Anango or Ianda, or as far north as Hunjer or Skjern, west of Torvaldsland. These islands, with occasional free ports on the coast, north and south of the Gorean equator, such as Lydius and Helmutsport and Schendi and Bazi, make possible the commerce between Cos and Tyros, and the mainland, and its cities, such as Ko-ro-ba, Thentis, Tor, Ar, Turia, and many others. On these voyages my cargos were varied. I did not, however, in this early period, because of the cost, purchase cargos of great value. Accordingly I did not carry, in these first voyages, any abundance of precious metals or jewels; nor did I carry rugs or tapestries, or medicines, or silks, or ointments, or perfumes, or prize slaves, or spices or canisters of colored table salts. In these first voyages, I was, content, quite, to carry tools and stone, dried fruit, dried fish, bolts of rep-cloth, tem wood, Tur wood and Ka-la-na stock, and horn and hides. I did once carry, however, a hold of chained slaves, and another time, a hold filled with the furs of the northern sea sleen. The latter cargo was the most valuable carried in these first voyages."
Raiders of Gor pg 137 - 138

"'The price for a good sleen pelt is now a silver tarsk," said Arn."
Hunters of Gor pg 23

"The hunter pulled a pelt from the bundle of furs he carried. It was snowy white, and thick, the winter fur of a two-stomached snow larl. It almost seemed to glisten. The slaver's man appreciated its value. Such a pelt could sell in Ar for half a silver tarsk."
Beasts of Gor pg 74

"'I take him to be a merchant captain," said a man near me. I nodded. The conjecture was intelligent. The fellow wore the white and gold of the merchant, beneath a seaman's aba. It was not likely that a merchant would wear that garment unless he were entitled to it. Goreans are particular about such matters. Doubtless he owned and captained his own vessel."
Explorers of Gor pg 43

"One thing about Hurtha. He thought highly of his poems. He did not let them go for nothing. They were not cheap. He maintained his standards. Still, it seemed that a silver tarsk was a high price to pay for a poem, even if it were as good as one of Hurtha's, particularly one had to copy oneself."
Mercenaries of Gor pg 113

"'Do you have a witnessed, certified document attesting to the alleged contents of your purse?" I asked. "Too, was the purse closed with an imprinted seal, its number corresponding to the registration number of the certification document?" .... "This document seems a bit old," I said. "Doubtless it is no longer current, no longer an effective legal instrument. As you can see, it is dated two weeks ago."
Mercenaries of Gor pg 86

"'Surely," I said to Boots Tarsk-Bit, "your players have taken in a silver tarsk?" "No," he said. "We have, so far tonight, taken in only ninety- seven tarsk-bits, not even ten copper tarsks." coinage on Gor varies considerably from city to city. In Port Kar, and generally in the Vosk Basin, there are ten tarsk bits to a copper tarsk and one hundred copper tarsks to a silver tarsk."
Players of Gor pg 59

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