TLC Forum

I've been thinking off and on for some time about currency in the world of Narnia. How much is a Narnian Tree worth? Is there Calormene currency higher than the crescent? Do/did the Lone Islands have their own currency after they were annexed to Narnia? Did they switch to Calormene currency after a time or did they simply accept them because trade thrived? What might have the Archenlanders used?

I figured I'd start this thread because I've always wondered, "Why do the Narnians have coins called 'Trees'?" A few weeks ago, I got a lightbulb-moment theory and I want to see what others have to say about it.
In my headcanon, "Lions" are minted with his image on both sides while "Trees" have a tree on one side and a monarch on the other. My theory is that Narnian coins indicate the land's protection. "Lions" obviously refer to Aslan. Could the "Trees" refer to the Apple Tree Digory planted?

As a related aside, apparently the Lone Islands use Greek coins. Gumpas's coin pouch went up on eBay earlier this week, and then was removed...I guess the seller decided to wait on several listings. But the coins were based on Athenian Owls. I wasn't overly impressed by the originality of the Dawn Treader film designers.

I like your idea about the Trees. I've been pondering doing some replicas of Narnian coins. What do you think they might look like?

Yeah, they weren't very original... though I did like the Dawn Treader itself.

I've assumed that "Lions" were gold and "Trees" were silver. With my headcanon of Aslan's image being on both sides of the gold coin, I wonder if perhaps one side would depict His kindness and mercy while the other depicted His justice and judgement? Haven't put a ton of thought into that particular bit, but that's why I've got at the moment.
I imagine the "Trees" would look leafy, possibly bearing apples as well (as opposed to a bare tree, like the Tree of Gondor) on one side. The other side, which I assume would have the image(s) of the monarch(s), would bear a profile like so many coins have throughout history.

Maybe the Trees had a dryad's profile on one side and the tree on the other? In which case there could be different Trees, like pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters in our world.

Ooh, that's a cool idea too!

I think the Lone Islands would probably be using the Calormene Crescent and Minum. During the Golden Age they might've used the Lions and Trees.

I don't know what the coins would look like other than if C.S. Lewis had compared them to Telmarine coins, the Telmarine coins would probably be described as having rough edges and being curved instead of flat so that Miraz's picture is more likely to come up when you toss them.

Haha, I like that thought about Telmarines' "heads" turning up in a coin toss every time!

For some reason, I've always thought the "Trees" were connected to the two trees that sprouted from Uncle Andrew's coins! Like, maybe, Narnians thought there was some connection between precious metals and trees because of that event? Honestly, I don't even know what I was thinking, just that there was a connection!

That's what I always thought that Trees would be, until I read this thread and got some new ideas.

Oh, that hadn't crossed my mind either, marmota! Hmm....