Why is the currency the Florin?

**Lorenzo_H** · 03-06-2007, 08:59

Yeah I have seen it too often myself.

My main question actaully was simply "why did they choose the florin?" And not "stupid people chose the florin why didnt they choose the thing that I wanted?"

**Lorenzo_H** · 03-07-2007, 23:30

I am currently reading the famous "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, and I was most surprised to see in Chapter 5 the mention of "florins."

Was the florin still in circulation around 1818, the time of the publication?

**JCoyote** · 03-07-2007, 23:37

Just look it up in Wikipedia. It was based on the Bezant, and just about everyone copied it, and everyone had bank accounts in it. So as far as Western Europe is concerned, that was THE coin to trade in. Too bad we can't have multiple names for currencies in a game; Orthodox could have Bezants that were basically the same thing different name... just not sure what the Islamic factions would have.

There are STILL active currencies in the world the go by the name Florin. Aruba and Hungary at least.

**HoreTore** · 03-08-2007, 00:02

Well, it REALLY shouldn't be hard to change that and make an appropriate one for each faction. It's just changing the name really... However, that's 99,9% certainly hard-coded....

**JCoyote** · 03-08-2007, 00:09

Unfortunately as a change it would absolutely require programming code. Just a half dozen lines of if-then, but still, it would require code in the executables if there isn't already some in there to do it. Because the game has to recognize the faction and alter its text based on that.

It wouldn't be hard at all, anyone with a couple programming classes under their belt could do it easily, but it's not a change text files could make unless they already did it and haven't used it.

Though now I'm getting an odd desire to see a more robust economic engine... exchange rates and such... reflecting economics, influence, and merchant activity... But boy would that drive a lot of people crazy. Obviously whatever is in the bank would be at standard florins. But exchange rates would impact economic interactions on a smaller level.

**pike master** · 03-08-2007, 00:15

as many foreign sentences and phrases go the words often times are switched around making it difficult for an english person to properly interpret some simple to understand words in a phrase.

the origin of the florin being something valuable, people would often times hide their precious money from the tax man by stashing it under the wood of the floor of their home.

after some time the said money was given a humerous nickname "in the floor" and by the time the nickname became a serious term it was corrupted to "florin"

.

no need to thank me for the enlightenment.