Beyond Coin: Managing Livestock Currency in Faerûn

In Faerûn, wealth isn’t just held in coin—it bleats, moos, and occasionally tries to escape from the back of a cart. While cities like Waterdeep rely heavily on minted currency, rural economies and frontier settlements often prefer bartering with livestock, especially sheep and cows, as their primary medium of exchange. In these markets, currency management goes far beyond decimal places and exchange rates—it’s measured in hooves and wool.

Trading Livestock: The Art of the Barter Deal

Sheep and cows are among the most commonly traded animals across Faerûn. Instead of fixed coin prices, their value is often expressed in livestock equivalents or agreed-upon barter deals. For example, a farmer in Daggerford might offer 3 sheep for 1 milk cow, while a merchant in Silverymoon agrees to trade 2 cows for a refurbished wagon and a barrel of smoked fish.

Barter agreements like these introduce valuation risks—a form of unrealized gain or loss if the agreed deal differs from market value at settlement.

Example:

If Greta Ironfist agrees to trade 1 cow (normally valued at 12 gp) for 10 sheep (normally valued at 1 gp each), she’s made a paper gain of 2 gp—but only if she manages to offload those sheep at market value. If the market crashes and sheep drop to 0.8 gp each, she’s suddenly facing a realized loss of 4 gp.

Tracking Unrealized Gains & Losses in Dynamics 365

Using Dynamics 365 Finance, organizations can manage livestock like any asset class, and track fluctuations through barter transactions:

 Configure posting profits to book gains/losses into:

• 8150 – Unrealized Currency Gains
• 8200 – Realized Currency Gains
• 1400 – Livestock Inventory (customized by type)

 Sheep Equivalency Table

To help standardize barter pricing, many trading companies and farming cooperatives use equivalency tables. These values adjust seasonally, but the table below offers a standard baseline used by the Waterdeep Trading Company:

These equivalencies are often posted on chalkboards in guild halls and auction houses, with exchange rates adjusted based on region, season, and demand.

Livestock Valuation Strategy in Faerûn

Using barter pricing as the standard means the value of livestock acts like floating currency, influenced by:

• War or Famine: Raises cow values, lowers sheep (if feed is short)
• Seasonal Demand: High wool prices in winter increase sheep value
• Regional Trade Routes: Supply constraints affect prices dramatically

In D365, livestock can be managed with inventory journals that reflect changes in expected barter value. These changes trigger unrealized gains or losses until settlement occurs—when those numbers become very real on the books.

Final Thoughts: Counting Sheep in the Ledger

Managing currency in Faerûn isn’t just a matter of coins—it’s about contracts and creatures. By treating livestock as movable wealth, Faerûnian traders and companies like the Waterdeep Trading Company bring agility and realism to their accounting.

When you track sheep like silver and cows like coin, the only limit is how fast your ledgers—and your livestock—can move.

Ready to track your herd and harvest your profits? Download the Advanced Dungeons & Dynamics 365 Bare Bones Configuration Guides at adnd365.com/start and bring order to your beasts.