The galaxy uses three coins. Every power mints its own, and all of them are taken almost everywhere.
Crown. Metal: Gold. Value: 10 Marks. Rules Name: Gold piece (GP).
Mark. Metal: Silver. Value: 10 Bits. Rules Name: Silver piece (SP).
Bit. Metal: Copper chip. Value: 1 Bit. Rules Name: Copper piece (CP).
1 Crown = 10 Marks = 100 Bits. Any price in GP is a price in Crowns. SP is Marks and CP is Bits. Nobody mints electrum or platinum coins. Treat a price in PP as 10 Crowns each. Fifty coins weigh 1 pound.
On the character sheet, Crowns go in gold, Marks go in silver and Bits go in copper.
Aether crystal is fuel, so people trade it like money. A trader takes crystal at its full price only after testing it.
Crystal cell (full). Value: 5 Marks. Used For: Ammunition for rune guns, power for lamps and small tools.
Small aether crystal. Value: 5 Crowns. Used For: A day of fuel for a medium rune helm, or refills 10 cells.
Large aether crystal. Value: 100 Crowns. Used For: Fuel for a warship for 4 days, or a rune engine for a month.
Old Maker crystal. Value: 1,000 Crowns or more. Used For: Holds ten times the power of a large crystal.
Raw and Refined. Raw crystal from a mine sells for half price. Only the Gilded Dominion may sell refined crystal by law. In Dominion space, selling crystal without a Dominion seal can bring a fine equal to its value. In Union, Syndicate and Compact ports, nobody checks.
Paying in Crystal. Small crystals are the common way to pay for big deals, bribes and ship work. Most dock workers, fixers and pirates accept them.
An empty cell can be refilled.
At a Port. Any dock or gun shop refills an empty cell for 2 Marks. A new full cell costs 5 Marks.
By Hand. A creature with tinker's tools can break a small aether crystal and refill 10 empty cells with it. This takes 10 minutes. A cracked or black cell can't be refilled.
Dyed glass and drained crystal are sold as real crystal in every market.
Crystal Tester. A crystal tester shows at once if a crystal is real, how full it is, and if it is black.
By Eye. Without a tester, a creature can study a crystal and make a DC 13 Intelligence (Arcana or Investigation) check. On a success, it knows if the crystal is real and roughly how full it is.
A crystal touched by the Vhal turns black and holds no power. It is worth nothing as fuel. The Unbound and some collectors pay for it in secret. Carrying it is dangerous. See the Vhal Exposure rule.