Office of the Treasury and Mint

Office of the Treasury and Mint
Banner
Caption	The silver banner of the OTM.
Status	Active
Headquarters	Ereben
Founded	14 BY

The Office of the Treasury and Mint (“OTM”) is the oldest Office of Bormar. Based in the city of Ereben, the OTM has near-universal control over the design and distribution of the Bormar belning and its four main denominations. It is headquartered in Ereben and consists of a seven-building complex: four foundries for each minted denomination, a massive storehouse for raw materials, a vault whose impregnability is borderline mythical, and a sizable office for its various officials and coinsmiths. Most importantly to the First House, it is the OTM that secures the enormous wealth of the First Lords and Ladies during their tenure.

History

The First Act of Currency

Since the earliest days of Bormar, the issue of standardizing a currency was a hot-button issue. The Dwarves of the Mar Mountains had yet to be unified under a single banner, and issues regarding currencies and exchange rates had been problematic since the first Passkeepers began their tollings. This only became worse over time, with many holdings minting their own currencies, and it was agreed among the First Lords and Ladies of Bormar that something must be done. Even so, it took over a decade for action to be taken, showcasing the growing pains of the fledgling government.

In 14 BY, the First House passed the First Act of Currency, which delegated the headache of designing and distributing a standardized currency to the nation’s first sub-organization: The Office of the Treasury and Mint, known commonly as the OTM. In its attempts to conquer this monumental task, the OTM found great difficulty in any designs submitted to the First House, as some Lord or Lady always griped with its particulars, often regarding its practical aspects but more often relating to simple aesthetic preferences.

The Grand Currency Competition

After two years of little progress, the OTM decided to launch a nationwide competition that would leave the design of Bormar’s currency to a Dwarf outside of the government. The winner would not only have their design adopted by the nation but would also receive generous compensation in the form of a single-issue two-meter version of their design’s most valuable denomination. The OTM announced the competition without the blessing of the First House, as they knew formal channels would lead to its disapproval. In an act of surprising belligerence, the decision was made to ask for forgiveness instead of permission.

Thankfully, the competition drew immense public support and is often considered the first national action that drew the attention of the average Dwarf, a factor that was indescribably valuable in developing Bormar’s national identity. Consequently, the First House supported the competition and the ultimate decision of the OTM to decide its winner, with even the stuffiest First Lords and Ladies agreeing to honor the results.

Despite hundreds of entries–often from Dwarven master craftsmen sponsored by various nobility including First Lords and Ladies–the winner was decided nearly a year after the competition began: an unassuming middle-aged sculptor from one of the poorest regions in Bormar. His name was simply Tor, and his concept consisted of four coins whose number of sides increased with their value. The humble Dwarf stated that this was to aid those who were visually impaired, and also to make it easier to feel inside of one’s pockets and tell one coin from another.

This simple, ergonomic design was chosen above all others, and the “Torian Concept” was immortalized in its adoption as the nation’s official currency, and dubbed as the Bormar belning. It is said that Tor received his two-meter-sized belning with a smile, saying that it would make for a fine dining table.

The Introduction of the Belning

Production of the belning began immediately at a breakneck pace, with each of the OTM’s four foundries operating through night and day to mint enough coins for the nation. Just six months later, the belning was distributed. Roughly two years of “teething” followed, mostly relating to exchanging old currencies for the belning or introducing such a system to more remote areas that operated solely on barter systems.

Issues regarding the over-production of coins and inflation were recurring problems that were stabilized in the following decade and have generally remained so ever since.

The Citning and the Second Act of Currency

In 165 BY, the OTM announced its intentions of creating a new denomination: the citning. This tin coin would be worth one-eighth of a tonning and would serve as the belning’s lowest value denomination. The reasons for this were two-fold. The first was the creation of unofficial sub-currencies with a value under the tonning in Bormar’s more remote or less wealthy holdings where few Dwarves were capable of earning, let alone spending, anything more than a tonning or two a week. The second reason for the citing was due to growing calls for the decentralization of the mints, a call rising mostly from Bormar’s nobility. The citning and the theory behind it–known as the “Minteen Concept”--was made official by the First House’s passing of the Second Act of Currency in 166 BY.

The citning would be created from waste tin, and could technically be considered a pseudo-currency as it is not standardized in shape or size by the OTM. The OTM does not mint citnings in any form. Instead, local smiths were encouraged to mint citnings from waste tin. This accomplished both goals of bringing the production of currency to the holdings themselves while making the production of the small denominations much easier than before.

Organization

The OTM has several hundred Dwarves working in its headquarters, performing duties ranging from coin-smithing to national accounting. On occasion, the OTM will send caravans across the nation to distribute new mintings to Bormar’s various holdings, and these great trains of coinage are guarded by a small army of well-paid Dwarfs-At-Arms.

The chief position of the OTM is the First Treasurer of Bormar. This Dwarf is trusted with the administration of the sub-organization in its entirety and provides monthly reports to the First House regarding the nation’s financial status. Additionally, the First Treasurer is trusted with administering the accounts of the First Lords and Ladies during their tenures and is charged with providing accurate accountings of their funds when requested.