#to have wild ass pirates everywhere but immaculately pressed currency

[mamamittens]

So... About One Piece Money

TLDR: I'm a wordy, nerdy bitch about the logistics of literal money in a fictional world.

Now, as a preface, I want to say that I'm not an expert. While I have almost 5 years experience handling precious metals and currency in a professional capacity (as opposed to just participating in passive capitalism), this is in no way the equivalent of a full education on the matter. I am also aware that Berri (Belly, Beri, or whatever else it can be called) is fictional and mostly assumed to be the equivalent to the Japanese currency, Yen. Of which I have very little experience with as a whole.

I'm mostly just talking about background world building nonsense because I'm a nerd that can't be stopped.

So! With that out of the way, let's start with the basics!

Where exactly do they even make their currency? I mean, it's probably super top secret given the fact that its... you know, the foundation of their financial system, but given how widespread it is, I have to assume each major area has a mint somewhere inside it. This is simply because it's shown to be a pretty big deal to cross over into a different 'Blue'. Now, you could say that the natural flow of merchant/marine/civilian traffic circulates the currency but there's simply no way that's how it's done.

I mean, sure, we could do that in the modern age, but we also don't rely on wooden ships and have to deal with a massive, fuck off amounts of pirates eager to get rich quick. And a Navy guard to help circulate the cash is just begging for a strong attack. So no, there has to be a mint in each blue to ensure that they all fall under the World Government's financial system. That and most of it is going to those bubble head bastards and you know they just use half of it for toilet paper--no way in hell that's getting cycled back into the economy well enough to prevent the need for more printing/minting of money.

Which brings up the next point about what they could be made of. Now, contrary to what you might think, using pure precious metals for currency is wildly ill advised. Partly because there aren't a lot of easy to access metals that don't age like milk in circulation and also to prevent counterfeiting (more on that later). You could do that with gold (gold is famously nonreactive to the point that it doesn't conduct electricity) but it's also 'soft' for metal. Not ideal for your chump change. And the world of One Piece has to worry about water exposure constantly. So pure silver is out, as is iron. My best guess is, for the most part, a composite material, a lot like what the US has for their change (baring pennies). The exact mixture is hard to say. But! whatever it is, is relatively light and not prone to toning or water damage.

Also, I know they have a mint making these because there is no way in hell they employee the multiple countries worth of folks to individually carve these out. Their designs are distinct and very modern, which indicates a need for precise temperature control, consistent quality, and one hell of a press. Given that there isn't a year or rotating faces on the coins/currency, we can assume they don't need new designs regularly baring special anniversaries or events they may choose to commemorate with limited run coins/currency. I'm not sure what they could do that for, but plenty of modern countries so I'm not ruling it out.

Okay, onto currency and counterfeiting!

See, a trademark detail of currency (coins or paper money) is that they are usually given distinct... details. This makes it harder for your average joe to just whip up some Monopoly money in his basement and buying up all the local Tesla shops. Modern money differs depending on the country, but I'm assuming that they at least have watermarks, serial numbers, and possibly embossed sections. The more fine detail you can give your real currency, the harder it gets for people to fake it without the actual tools of the trade. (Paper money is usually made more with cotton and fibers than actual paper these days by they way, and depending on the country they integrate other special materials, sometimes in bands to make it even harder to DIY). It's probably also chemically treated to resist wear, tear, or other defacements--as well as being able to use special ink to test for fakes. It's all incredibly precise because if you can't even secure your physical currency, your actual economy is going to collapse in on itself due to artificial inflation.

On the topic of counterfeiting, I can only assume there are small, minute details that help determine where exactly specific money came from. For US currency (as well as other countries), we have 'mint marks' which are exactly what they sound like. Marks unique to the mint, usually just the first initial of the mint that made them, added to the coin's design in a discreet but easy to see spot.

And before anyone says that this can't be a possibility, ancient coins also have these marks for much the same purpose.

(Also, the One Piece mints have to be modern because unlike these coins, you never see Berri with uneven or awkward alignment on the planchet--metal disk that the design is pressed onto--which indicate these were done a lot more by 'hand' than by today's standard).

Now, where am I going with all this? Oh, nowhere special just passively thinking about the hidden aspects of world design and how Oda--unintentionally I imagine--accidentally gave One Piece a very advanced and well connected financial society despite most people living what's basically provincial lives without the industrial age inventions we know and love. Additionally, without heavy spoilers, it's clear that science is more advanced than it first appears because there's easy access to wine, beer, sake, and juice. Nearly all of which have to be carefully crafted to either last the voyage until it's sold or made in house. And if your chemistry isn't able to manage a good shelf life, it probably tastes pretty ass anyway. And Makino, angel that she is, definitely isn't making all her beer by herself.

That's it, thanks for coming to my Ted-Talk.