Coyn

Of the rare artifacts recovered from Ancient sites, the most common are coyns, small disks of metal engraved with various symbols.

Description (Specifications)

Their specific purpose is unknown.

• It may be that the objects served as money, jewelry, psionic focuses, or for some other unknown purpose.

History & Background (Dossier)

Original coyns have been found in various precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, iridium, monadium, and even uranium. Sets range in size from six to thirty-eight pieces and are considered desirable to museums throughout the Imperium. Each coyn has a scrap value of Cr400 (if gold); to a museum, the value is closer to Cr4000.

• Copies of sets of coyns are made of aluminum, lead, or zinc, and are more frequently encountered from unscrupulous merchants or traders. Such fake coyns have a value of about Cr20 each.
• In addition to the Ancients-derived coyn sets, sets are associated with Droyne communities (called koynisin), and have been so for at least 75,000 years. These more modern coyn sets are used in numerous Droyne ceremonies.
• Sophontologists have found similarities between the symbols on the Ancients-derived coyns, the older Droyne coyns, and the modern coyns used by oytripin. The symbols on the coyns have changed over time, both when representing the same concept, and when symbols have been added or removed.
• The modern coyn set contains thirty-six different symbols, the Ancients are assumed to have had thirty-eight, and the old sets have some intermediate number between thirty and forty-two.

References & Contributors (Sources)

This article has a secret.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Classic Traveller Alien Module 5: Droyne
• MegaTraveller Imperial Encyclopedia
• GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 3
• Author & Contributor: Hans Rancke-Madsen
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science