Currency Conversions

Early PoSI Content and Onwards

This guide covers the different currencies and markets available to players in Fallen London, and primarily the means to convert holdings from one format to another. "Currency" is surprisingly ill-defined for the Echo Bazaar, but the main criteria are that there are several things an end-game player would want to spend it on, and it's feasible to acquire and spend large amounts fairly quickly.

Echoes

Echoes (and their diminutive cousin, the penny) is the default currency in Fallen London, thanks to the influence of the Bazaar. Most game items that can be sold at all, can be sold for Echoes. Many commodities can also be purchased for Echoes, usually for around triple their sell price.

Other currency conversions will be assumed to convert to/from Echoes unless otherwise noted.

Skeleton Value

One can view the Approximate Value of Your Skeleton in Pennies can be seen as the "currency" of The Bone Market, although value is not generally stored in this form. Rather, value is held in the form of high-value bones, which are then assembled into a skeleton and sold.

Storing value as bones trades liquidity for flexibility: there is an action overhead to convert your holdings into something usable. But a skeleton can be sold easily for a variety of different useful items.

Conversions Into SV

Good bones are hard to acquire before the Railway, but soon after they can be obtained fairly directly by the bulk research project for Survey of the Neath's Bones, and trading for Palaeontological Discovery. In fact, there is an argument for storing value as Palaeontological Discovery rather than bones. The Leviathan Frame takes the least actions to sell, relative to its value.

From Echoes

Bright Brass Skull. 10% bonus on Bird Week.

Other

You will gain a surfeit of Bone Fragments once you no longer need Justificande Coin for the Railway. Convert into Skeleton Value by purchasing a Sabre-toothed Skull in Ealing Gardens, or an Ivory Femur in the Bone Market (via a Curious Tree in Parabola). With BaL you may also make Vake Skulls. Get a 10% bonus to the former on Bird Week, or a 15% bonus to the latter on Insect Week.

Exchanging SV for Something Else

Getting the best value for bones requires juggling a variety of constraints. See Assembling a Skeleton (Guide) for in-depth detail.

Scrip can be obtained directly from several buyers, and indirectly from most of them. Khaganian coinage can be obtained from The Trifling Diplomat. You can convert Skeleton Value into Rat-Shillings, by buying Crackling Device with the Khaganian Coinage from The Trifling Diplomat, and then waiting until the appropriate week to sell these.

Rat-Shillings

The currency of the Rat Market. See The Rat Market (Guide) for a mechanical refresher on what those L.B.s are up to.

There are several unique features of Rat-Shillings as a currency, foremost among them being that they cannot be used to store value. Rat-Shillings evaporate weekly, and can only be used as an intermediate exchange between a handful of items on a given week. They are, however, efficient.

Shillings are generally valued at 1 = 0.10.

Conversions Into Rat-Shillings

On a given week, you're stuck with what you can get. But in the long-term, you may be willing to wait for the right opportunity.

From Khaganian Coins

Wait for weeks when the Crackling Device is available. (3 out of 12 weeks)

Exchanging Rat-Shillings for Something Else

To Echoes

Buy any of the Tier-2 ( 0.10) items: Inkling of Identity, Maniac's Prayer, Amanita Sherry, Map Scrap, or Phosphorescent Scarab.

To Scrip

Wait for Fabulous Diamond to be available. (randomly, on average once every 16 weeks)

Optionally, consider upconverting Inkling of Identity -> An Identity Uncovered! and Map Scrap -> Partial Map into Esteem of the Guild and cashing this in for scrip in Jericho Locks. See Canal Cruising in Jericho Locks (Guide) for more information. This isn't quite as efficient as other choices, and also takes several actions.

To Skeleton Value

The Eyeless Skull is not a good deal, do not take it. It costs 62.5 in rat-shillings but only adds 30 in Skeleton Value. It's better to convert to Echoes and buy Bright Brass Skull with that.

Buy Custom-Engraved Skulls with Inkling of Identity during FEAST OF THE ROSE

Hinterland Scrip

The currency of the Upper River, Hinterland Scrip is mostly the purview of end-game players. For acquiring from scratch, see Hinterland Scrip-Making.

Scrip is generally valued at 1 = 0.50.

Exchanging Scrip for Something Else

To Echoes

Exchanging Scrip for Echoes is very easy and efficient: Purchase Tinned Ham at the Extramural Trading Company, and sell them at the Bazaar for an exchange rate of 1 = 0.508. This favourable exchange rate, and the absence of action cost to perform the exchange, make Scrip a good store of value. Several high-end Echo grinds actually just grind for Scrip and then exchange via Ham.

To Skeleton Value

Buy a Fossilised Forelimb from Anning and Daughters. These do not take actions to acquire, but they do take actions to attach to a skeleton, acting as a bottleneck for conversion.

Conversions Into Scrip

It's generally very easy to obtain Scrip at a conversion rate of one Scrip per Echo, which is a 50% haircut. Several items can be purchased in the Bazaar and sold in the Upper River Exchange for this rate. Conversions closer to a fair value exchanged are much preferred.

From Echoes

The gold standard for converting most resources to Scrip is Brass Lollipops. Conversions inferior to this one are generally paid no mind.

Use Echoes to buy a Bright Brass Skull from Merrigans Exchange, then stick it on a Headless Skeleton (or the Licentiate Bone Market action), and Sell to a Constable (Skeleton).

This is the preferred way for many players to convert existing holdings into Scrip, and is especially popular for obtaining Your Very Own Miniature Hellworm (and accessories). This is technically a special case of Skeleton Value, but is significant enough to be highlighted on its own.

From Skeleton Value

Three buyers in the Bone Market pay out their primary reward directly in Scrip, and almost every buyer gives out at least one reward that can be sold for scrip. All six of the super-linear rewards from regular buyers can be sold for Scrip, making Bone Market Exhaustion a relevant barrier.

From Rat-Shillings

A Fabulous Diamond can be exchanged directly at The Hurlers for their fair value. This is only available for sale one week in sixteen.

Solacefruit, Royal-Blue Feather, and Preserved Surface Blooms are available every week, but you lose 37.5% of your value exchanging these for Scrip.

Khaganian Coinage

Only used in Khan's Heart, making it exclusive to very late-game players. Khaganian Intrigues are high-EPA activities, but several rewards cannot be sold for echoes. Coinage is also relevant because the Rat Market sometimes will buy a Crackling Device.

Khaganian Coins are generally valued at 1 = 0.50.

Exchanging Coinage for Something Else

The best connection between the economies of the Khanate and London is the Crackling Device. Buying one at the Midnight Market and selling at the Bazaar has an exchange rate of 1 = 0.481, and the exchange takes no actions beyond travel. They can also be sold to the Rat Market for 1 = 6.54, for one action per device.

Conversions Into Khaganian Coinage

It is generally not worthwhile to obtain items in London for sale in the Khanate, as the Khanate itself is more action-efficient for obtaining them.

From Skeleton Value

Convert directly into Khaganian Coinage via The Trifling Diplomat. You are restricted to one Skeleton per voyage, but the value of the skeleton has no practical upper-bound, especially when The Diplomat's Current Fascination is a quality rather than a body type.

From Rat-Shillings

The best option is probably to buy Map Scrap in bulk, and up-convert into Salt Steppe Atlas. There are probably better uses for your Favours: The Docks.

Stashed Treasure

Piracy earns you Stashed Treasure while zailing. It is valued the same as a Penny.

Exchanging Stashed Plunder for Something Else

For Echoes

All of the items you can get for Stashed Treasure can be sold at the Echo Bazaar

For Hinterland Scrip

Via Fabulous Diamond

For Khaganian Coinage

Via Salt Steppe Atlas