Currency

As of January 21, 2002

Double Tarn Disk (4.5 oz of Gold) $ 1269.45
Gorean Single Golden Tarn Disk (2.25 oz of Gold) $ 634.73
Gorean Silver Tarsk $ 63.47
Gorean Copper Tarsk $ .63
Gorean Copper Tarsk bit $ .03 to .06

I have based the above figures by researching the price of Gold, and by deducing whether or not the Golden Tarn Disk described in Kajira of Gor on pages 10 through 16 was a double gold or single golden tarn Disk. I have determined that the book was describing a double tarn disk of Gold. If you wish to see how, please read on.
I have read the Gorean novels, and in one, Book 19 Kajira of Gor, there is an instance where a Gorean Golden Tarn Disk, is appraised. Since the monetary system of Gor is unknown on Earth, and the coins would not be circulation on Earth, they would be extremely rare. So in the book they were valued by their metal content.

First lets examine what Kajira of Gor said about this coin. At the end of this document, there is an even more in-depth discussion from the book on this coin.

Page 13: The object was about an inch and a half in diameter and about three eighths of an inch in thickness. It was yellowish, and, to me, surprisingly heavy for its size.

Pages 15-16: “It has metal value, or bullion value,” he said. “Oh?” I asked. “Yes,” he said. “Do you not understand what it is composed of?” “No,” I said. “It is gold,” he said.

Page 16: I had had the yellowish, metallic object assayed. It had indeed been gold. I had sold it to a bullion dealer. It would be melted down. I had received eighteen hundred dollars for it.

This in a nutshell is what I have found.

The Tarn disk described in Kajira of Gor was worth $1800.00, weighed 4.5 ounces. And was indeed Gold. A Silver Tarsk then would be worth $180.00, a copper tarsk would be worth $1.80 a copper tarsk bit would be worth anywhere from $0.18 to $0.08. All prices would in 1983 figures when the book was printed.

Now the question arises as to whether or not the Tarn Disk described in Kajira of Gor, was a double Tarn Disk or not.

I would ask you to consider whether or not this is a Double Tarn Disk. I tend to think it is, and if it were talking of a single golden tarn disk, it can be inferred that a double tarn disk could be considered to be double the weight, as described in the book, it would weigh 9 ounces. I think that would be very heavy to carry around. So I would prefer to think that the double tarn disk weighed 4.5 oz. And the Single, 2.25 oz

To determine the value of the Golden Tarn Disk, I looked at pages 10-16 where this coin is discussed. I shall include the quotes from these pages, skipping the irrelevant portions. Once these pages have been considered, one must look to the price of gold bullion in US Dollars.

The price quoted on page 16 of Kajira of Gor is $1800.00. So from this we can determine the weight of the coin. To do this however we must find what the price of gold per ounce was. This is where it can get complicated however. So I needed to find out what the price of gold was in March 1983 when this book was printed. Again this can be debated, but we have to start somewhere, and once everything here has been read and digested, we can possibly agree.

I did this by using a search engine on the internet. You may verify this yourself by going to the following link. http://www.the-privateer.com/g-bottom/gold82-l.html click on the graph and look at the figure for March 1983.

This is also the publishing date of Book 19 Kajira of Gor. As always this can be debated, but I think if you read this entire document, you will agree, the figures quoted are at least ballpark figures. The price of gold at that time was $400.00 in United States Dollars. So by taking the price of Gold, at $400.00 and dividing that figure by the $1800.00 quoted in Kajira of Gor we come to the weight of the gold tarn disk as being 4.5 ounces. (1800 divided by 400 = 4.5)

Now we will examine the value of the coin. We know from Rogue of Gor (Page 155) that the Standard Golden Tarn Disk is worth Ten Silver Tarsks.

“A silver tarsk is, to most Goreans, a coin of considerable value. In most exchanges it is valued at a hundred copper tarsks, each of which valued, commonly at some ten to twenty tarsk bits. Ten silver tarsks, usually, is regarded as the equivalent of one gold piece, of one of the high cities.”

Today’s price of gold can be verified through this link: http://www.the-privateer.com/g-quote.html

and converted into any currency at this link: http://www.xe.com/ucc/

The golden Tarn Disk is based on the bullion value of Gold (as of January 21, 2002 at 11:34 am EST) Gold was trading at $282.10 per ounce. on this date. This would make the Gorean Tarn Disk weighing 4.5 oz worth $1269.45 If the single golden tarn would be half the weight, as of January 16, 2002 it would be worth $634.73

From this we can determine the value of the other Gorean coins. Though to be perfectly honest and complex, you would have to check the prices of silver and copper respectively. And since I do not recall any particulars about having these other coins assayed in terms of US dollars, it cannot be accurately or even guessed at.

So i have included in the following chart, figures based on whether the book is talking about a single golden tarn disk weighed in at 4.5 oz, and doubled those figures, based on what a double tarn disk would be worth.

And figured what the numbers would be, if the book were describing a double tarn disk, which is my personal opinion of what it was talking about.

March 1983 figures

If the book described a single golden tarn disk the following numbers would apply

Single Gold Tarn Disk (4.5 oz of gold)     Double Tarn Disk ( 9.0 oz of gold)

Gorean Tarn Disk $    1800.00                     Double Gorean Tarn Disk       $   3600.00
Sliver Tarsk          $      180.00
Copper Tarsk        $          1.80
Copper Tarsk Bit $ .09 to .18

If the book described a Double Tarn Disk, the following numbers would apply.

Double Tarn Disk (4.5 oz of Gold)          Single Tarn Disk (2.25 oz of Gold)

Gorean Tarn Disk   $   1800.00              Golden Tarn Disk $     900.00
                                                           Silver Tarsk           $       90.00
                                                          Copper Tarsk         $           .90
                                                          Copper Tarsk Bit   $ .05 to .09

As of January 21, 2002

If the book described a single tarn disk, the following numbers would apply

Single Gold Tarn Disk (4.5 oz of gold)     Double Tarn Disk ( 9.0 oz of gold)

Gorean Tarn Disk $    1239.45                     Double Gorean Tarn Disk       $   2538.90
Sliver Tarsk          $      126.95
Copper Tarsk        $          1.27
Copper Tarsk Bit $ .06 to .13

If the book described a double tarn disk the following numbers would apply

Double Tarn Disk (4.5 oz of Gold)          Single Tarn Disk (2.25 oz of Gold)

Gorean Tarn Disk   $   1239.45           Golden Tarn Disk $     634.73
                                                        Silver Tarsk           $       63.47
                                                        Copper Tarsk         $           .63
                                                        Copper Tarsk Bit     $ .03 to .06

And now on to the further quotes dealing with the particular tarn disk being assayed in Kajira of Gor.

Page 10: “This coin or medal, or whatever it is, is very puzzling,” had said the gentle, bespectacled man, holding it by the edges with white, cotton gloves, and then placing it down on the soft felt between us. He was an authenticator, to whom I had been referred by a professional numismatist. His task was not to appraise coins but to render an informed opinion on such matters as their type and origin, where this might be obscure, their grading, in cases where a collaborative opinion might be desired, and their genuineness.

Page 11: “This object,” he said, “has not been struck from machine-engraved dies. Similarly, it is obviously not the result of contemporary minting techniques and technology. It is not the product, for example, of a high-speed, automated coin press.”

“It has been struck by hand,” he said. “Do you see how the design is slightly off center?”

“That is a feature almost invariably present in ancient coins,” he said. “The planchet is warmed, to soften the metal. It is then placed between the dies and the die cap is then struck, literally, with a hammer, impressing the design of the obverse and reverse simultaneously into the planchet.”

“Then it is an ancient coin?” I asked.

   “That seems unlikely,” he said. “Yet the techniques used in striking this coin have not been used, as far as I know, for centuries.”

“Too,” he said, “note how it is not precision milled. It is not made for stacking, or for storage in rolls.”

   “Such coins were too precious perhaps,” he said. “A roll of them might be almost inconceivable, particularly in the sense of having many such rolls.”

   “You see, however,” he asked, “how the depth of the planchet allows a relief and contrast of the design with the background to an extent impossible in a flat, milled coin?”

“What a superb latitude that gives the artist,” he said. “It frees him from the limitations of a crude compromise with the counting house, from the contemporary concessions

Continuing Page 12: which must be made to economic functionalism. Even then, in so small and common an object, and in so unlikely an object, he can create a work of art.”

“This, in its depth and beauty, reminds me of ancient coins,” he said. “They are, in my opinion, the most beautiful and interesting of all coins.”

“Look here,” he said. “Do you see how this part of the object, at the edge, seems flatter, or straight, different from the rest of the object’s circumference?”

“This object has been clipped, or shaved,” he said. “A part of the metal has been cut or trimmed away. In this fashion, if that is not noted, or the object is not weighed, it might be accepted for, say, a certain face value, the individual responsible for this meanwhile pocketing the clipped or shaved metal. If this is done over a period of time, with many coins, of course, the individual could accumulate, in metal value, a value equivalent perhaps to one or more of the original objects.”

“I do not know if it is a coin or not,” said the man.
   “What else could it be?” I asked.
   “It could be many things,” he said. “It might be a token or a medal. It might be an emblem of membership in an organization or a device whereby a given personage might be recognized by another. It might be a piece of art intended to be mounted in jewelry. It might even be a piece in some game.”

Page 13: “What about the letter on one side?” I asked.
   “It may not be a letter,” he said. “It may be only a design.” It seemed a single, strong, well-defined character. “If it is a letter,” he said, “it is not from an alphabet with which I am familiar.”
   “There is an eagle on the other side,” I said, helpfully.

   “It is not an eagle,” he said. “It has a crest.”

Page 14: “It gives every evidence of being a coin,” he said. “It looks like a coin. Its simplicity and design do not suggest that it is commemorative in nature. It has been produced in a manner in which coins were often produced, at least long ago and in the classical world. It has been clipped or shaved, something that normally occurs only with coins which pass through many hands. It even has bag marks.”

“This object, whatever it is,” said the man, “can clearly be graded according to established standards recognized in numismatics. It is not even a borderline case."

If this were a modern, milled coin, it would be rated Extremely Fine. It shows no particular, obvious signs of wear but its surface is less perfect than would be required to qualify it as being Uncirculated or as being in Mint State.

Page 15: “Do you see the tiny nicks?” he asked.

   “Those are bag marks,” he said. “They are the result, usually, of the coin, or object, being kept with several others, loose, in say, a bag or box.”

“As far as I know,” he said, “no city, kingdom, nation or civilization on Earth ever produced such a coin.”