Rely on the Numismatrix/Text Variations

Ordinary research

Experimental Object	Research Description
10, 40, 110 - 160, 230 - 240, 260	This is not a matter involving coins. She can offer only ordinary research assistance.
30 (retired)	"I know what it is," she says. "I don't know where it came from. That's a more troubling question. And I can't say what it's made of, if it's not the genuine article." But she takes instruction well, and tests the coin for materials.
210	Reaching Parabola is not a matter of buying one's way there. But she has a few observations on the metals used in mirrors, nonetheless.
220	Certain coins were not native to the Fourth City, but were brought there in the course of the silk trade. Those coins would tend to cluster near the workshop of the Khan of Silks. […] she would suggest the following sites for further investigation…
310	The Numismatrix has trouble with the concept, until you point out that it might be used, among other things, for a very efficient minting process. Then she becomes a great deal more engaged — though this is still outside her true area of expertise.
320	The machine is not made of coins. But it is a mechanism of chance, made with peculiar metals, and the Numismatrix can offer a number of peripheral insights.
330	The Numismatrix knows nothing about the device […] She does […] have some experience with contraband. She urges you not to let any ministers, any masters of the Bazaar, or any associates of the Admiralty find out you have this object in your possession.
350 - 360	Devices, machines, and gadgets elude her. She can offer only ordinary research assistance.
410 - 440, 460 - 470	Living animals are not her strength. She can offer a list of past coins on which they appear as designs, but that is of only modest worth at the moment.
450	The smell. The smell repels her. There is a reason she took an interest in coins. They hardly ever go off.
480	"Clinamen-bought," […] She aims a bright light at the very peak of the shell, and it brings out a mark like an excise stamp, indented in the top of the egg. "Someone paid heavily to extract this egg from its place in the chain of things."
485	Your egg wobbles in front of the Numismatrix as she inspects its surface […] "No marks of purchase, nor marks of change," […] "Whatever is in here is borne solely of its parents' efforts – which means its parent must be lofty in the chain of things."
490	The Numismatrix examines the top of the egg with a harsh, raking light; with lenses; even, in desperation, with moonlight in a mirrored box. […] "Whatever changed this egg," she says, "either they did […] without Permission, or they've erased all marks."
495	Living animals are not her strength, and surgery is certainly outside her domain. The diamond, however, interests her very much. She has some observations, made with a loupe, which help with a nice distinction of Red Science.
510	She is unable to suggest much about the anatomy of this creature, but she does tell you about a country with a thorned coin that claimed blood from every person who spent it. She's never come across any of this currency herself, however.
520 - 540	[…] If you can change the measure […] why waste this power on a tedious bone? Why not make a penny the size of a cartwheel? Transform a Justificande into a dining table? It would be so much easier to examine their markings, and merely consider the value!
610	There have been a few kingdoms that made their coins of bone. Not comfortable to inhabit.
810 - 830	Mineralogy is not her department. She can only give general views, and a few anecdotes about gemstones.
910 - 970, 990	She can offer only limited guidance on chemical matters.
1010	This kind of work gives her a headache. Can you blame her?
1020	She stands in a corner flipping pennies and noting down the results. From her expression, she has found the one thing about coins that does not excite her.
1030 - 1040	Just a glance at the research notes gives her such a bad migraine that she has to lie down in the dark for a week. She moans the whole time about stairs on the ceiling and fruits with their peels on the inside.
1045	This kind of work gives her a headache. Can you blame her? Your constant flipping of the bulb on and off does not help. She is forced to retreat, lest you trigger a migraine.
1050	[…] Masonry is not her field, but she does notice detail, and patterns. "The sequence is familiar. Is it meant to stand for music?" She hums a snatch of something, and catches herself again: it's a popular tune she must have got stuck in her head.
1210	Plants have little draw for her; they seldom even appear pictured on coins, though there was a coin once that pictured tulips on both the obverse and reverse. But no, she must admit that has no relevance here.

Unusual research

Experimental Object	Research Description
1320	She knows the coinage of that time and place. Little else, perhaps, but one can tell a great deal from currency.
1340	She knows the contemporary coinage, which is admittedly of limited relevance. But perhaps she may still glean something.
1350	The metal isn't steel. It also isn't any [...] typically used for coins. But she wouldn't be surprised if it were something more valuable. Both the feel of the material and the stamping of the sun on the front remind her of the currencies of the Bazaar.
1610	This kind of work gives her a headache. Can you blame her?