Currency

The currency in the World of Avatar is based on precious metals. All nations that use currency seem to use the same metals; however, they fashion them in different shapes and sizes.

Most nations use gold, silver, and copper pieces, with gold having the largest value, and copper the least. After the Hundred Year War, however, use of paper bills as a monetary value came into use, most notable in the United Republic of Nations.

Water Tribe


Water Tribe currency is blue and circular, with a hole in the center. Its shape resembles a ring, and it is thicker than an average coin. As the Water Tribe has a primitive economy based on subsistence, their economic system is not as advanced or sophisticated as those of more developed nations. Water Tribe money is accepted in certain parts of the Earth Kingdom, though some local areas, such as Chin Village, explicitly refuse to accept it.

By 171 AG, the yuan became an accepted form of currency in the Southern Water Tribe.

Earth Kingdom
Earth Kingdom coins are mostly round, and all have a square hole in their center which allows them to be strung together. The shape of Earth Kingdom currency is the same as the nation's insignia. There is no significant difference between copper, silver, and gold pieces besides the materials of which they are made. The only notable difference is that in gold pieces, the borders are marked by a richer shade of gold.



Copper piece
The copper piece is the coin with the least value in the Earth Kingdom; it is a small circular copper coin, with a square hole in the middle.

Silver piece
A silver piece is an Earth Kingdom coin worth more than a copper piece, but less than a gold piece. It is made of silver and is the second most valuable monetary item next to gold.

Gold piece
The gold piece is the most valuable coin in the Earth Kingdom. It is worth more than several copper and silver pieces put together.

Gold ingots
The Earth Kingdom also uses small ingots on rare occasions. They are small, oval-shaped lumps of gold, with a shape resembling a boat.

Fire Nation
Fire Nation coins are much more angular than their Earth Kingdom counterparts. They vary according to weight, size, and shape, though all have a nationalistic emblem on one side and writing on the opposite.



Copper piece
The copper piece is the least valuable coin in the Fire Nation, made of copper. It is a rectangle with two concave sides and a small image of a flame in its center.

Silver piece
The silver piece is the smallest coin in the Fire Nation. It is pentagonal in shape with the national emblem on its front. Although small in size, it is the second most valuable coin in the Fire Nation.

Gold piece
The gold piece is the longest coin in the Fire Nation and is mostly rectangular in shape with a long slit running from its base to slightly below its top. Consisting entirely of gold, these pieces are the most valuable coins in the Fire Nation.

United Republic of Nations


The United Republic of Nations' currency is called a yuan, and denominations are available as both paper bills and metal coins. The paper bill features an image of Avatar Aang on the obverse and one of City Hall on the reverse. The coins, which are worth one yuan each, are golden in color and exhibit three rectangles in their design.

Trivia

 * In the World of Avatar, it is the metal and not the currency itself that is valuable, much as it was in many parts of the world before the adoption of the banknote. This is known as intrinsic value in numismatic circles. In the post-Hundred Year War era of progress, however, global economies seem to have evolved toward a system of equivalences, as evidenced by the presence of the yuan in at least two different nations.
 * Earth Kingdom copper pieces are similar to Chinese coins before the Qin Dynasty.
 * Fire Nation currency resembles some Chinese coins during the Warring States period.
 * The Chinese word that is used to refer to the Fire Nation currency is, which literally means a metal slab.
 * The yuan is also the informal name of the basic unit of currency in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
 * The yuan is the only known currency to use both coins and paper bills.