Quotespartthree

"My own brand was the dina; the dina is a small lovely, multiply petaled flower,
short-stemmed, and blooming in a turf of green leaves, usually on the slopes of hills,
in the northern temperate zones of Gor; in its budding, though in few other ways, it
resembles a rose; it is an exotic, alien flower: it is also spoken of, in the north, where
it grows most frequently, as the slave flower; it was burned into my flesh; in
the south, below the Gorean equator, where the flower is much more rare, it is
prized more highly; some years ago, it was not uncommon for lower-caste families
in the south to give the name 'Dina' to their daughters, that practice has now largely
vanished, with the opening and expansion of greater trade, and cultural exchange, between
such cities as Ko-ro-ba and Ar, and the giant of the southern hemisphere, Turia. In the fall
of the city of Turia, some years ago, thousands of its citizens had fled, many of them
merchants or of merchant families; with the preservation of the city, and the restoration
of the Ubarate of Phanias Turmus, many of these families returned; new contacts had been
made, new products discovered; even of those Turians who did not return to their native
city, many of them remaining in their new homes, became agents for the distribution of
Turian goods, and for the leathers and goods of the Wagon Peoples, channeled through Turia.
That in the north the lovely dina was spoken of as the 'slave flower' did not escape the notice
of the expatriated Turians; in time, in spite of the fact that 'Dina' is a lovely name, and the
dina a delicate, beautiful flower, it would no longer be used in the southern hemisphere, no
more than in the northern, as a name for free women; those free women who bore then name
commonly had it changed by law, removed from the lists of their cities and replaced by
something less degrading and more suitable."
( Slave Girl of Gor pg. 61--62 )

"It was natural, given the fact that the dina is the 'slave flower,' that eventually
slaver, warriors, and merchants, those with an interest in the buying and selling
of women, should develop a brand based on the flower. Beyond this, there exists
on Gor a variety of brands for women, though the kajira brand, which Eta wore,
is by far the most common. Some merchants invent brands, as the dina was i
nvented, in order to freshen the nature of their merchandise and stimulate sales."
( Slave Girl of Gor pg 62--63 )

"Surely, I said to Boots Tarsk-Bit, your players have taken in a
sliver 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 )

"In his wallet were staters of Brundisium, I said. Do you know anything about
Brundisium, anything having to do with either Priest Kings or Kurii? No, said
Samos. Then the Brundisium staters are probably meaningless, I said. I would
suppose so, said Samos. They are, of course, a valuable stater. There would be
nothing incredible about their use being specified in a given transaction. Why
not the coinage of Ar, I asked, or that of Port Kar, or of Asperiche, or Tharna,
or Tyros, or Schendi, or Turia? I do not know, said Samos."
(Players of Gor pg. 74)

"Many of the daughters of merchants are proud sorts, for the
merchants themselves, by virtue of their power, tend to vanity and pride, and agitate,
justifiably or not, for the inclusion of their caste among the high castes of Gor.Their
pampered daughters, protected from work and responsibility, ostentatiously garbed
and elaborately educated in caste trivia, tend to be spoiled and soft."
( Slave Girl of Gor pg. 113 )

"I smiled. The ransom money of Gurt of Kassua would, doubtless,
be largely composed of the stamped coin of Lydius. The only mint at
which gold coins were stamped within a thousand pasangs was in
Lydius, at the mouth of the Laurius. Certain Jarls, of course, in a sense,
coined money, marking bars of iron or gold, usually small rectangular
solids, with their mark. Ring money was also used, but seldom stamped
with a jarls mark. each ring, strung on a larger ring, would be individually
weighed in scales. Many transactions are also done with fragments of gold
and silver, often broken from larger objects, such as cups or plates, and
these must be individually weighed. Indeed, the men of the north think little
of breaking apart objects with in the south, would be highly prized for their
artistic value, simply to obtain pieces of negotiable precious metal."
(Marauders of Gor pg. 76)

"To be sure, much seems to depend on the city and the particular
weights involved. For example, a 'double tarn' is twice the weight
of a 'tarn'. It seems there are usually eight tarsk-bits in a copper tarsk,
and that these are the result of cutting a circular coin in half, and then
the halves in half, and then each of these halves in half. An analogy would be the
practice of cutting the round, flat Gorean loaf of sa-tarna bread into eight pieces.
There are apparently something like one hundred copper tarsks in a silver tarsk in
many cities. Similarly, something like 10 silver tarsks would apparently be equivalent,
depending on weights, etc., to one gold piece, say a single 'tarn'. Accordingly,
on this approach, the equivalencies, very approximately, and probably only for certain
cities, would be eight tarsk bits to a copper tarsk; one hundred copper tarsks to a silver
tarsk; and ten silver tarsk to a gold piece, a single tarn. On this approach there would be,
literally 8,000 tarsk bits in a single gold piece."
(Magicians of Gor pg. 469)