This unusual piece is an example of wire coinage; coins which are struck with primitive tools along a length of heavy wire, and worn as armbands or bracelets, but may also be cut apart as needed for use as currency. The Dothraki do not believe in money, and so the existence of these coins has proved a mystery. It is now felt by most authorities that these “coins” were the product of an unnamed trader and tinker traveling about the area. Tired of being raided all the time, he sought to adopt the Dothraki way of giving gifts, offering armbands with Drogo’s image on them to the Khal while seeking to gain the business of mending their tack. In effect he was introducing them to the concept of money and seeking to corrupt them in a sly fashion. There is no established monetary parity vis-a-vis Westerosi coinage, but typically forty or so of these copper puli are equivalent to one silver denga. The weight and condition of these may vary somewhat from piece to piece. Traders and merchants widely accept them at about their weight/metal value against any other coin.

These unusual wire coins emulate real-world coinage of Ivan IV of Russia (sometimes known as Ivan the Terrible). They are struck in a series along a piece of heavy wire, and may be kept together in strings or cut apart for use as small change. They feature a horseman with sword on one side, and the inscription KHAL DROGO DOTHRAKI on reverse. It is undated (like most ancient coins) but is thought to have been struck at the tinker’s wagon some few years before the 300th year after Aegon’s conquest united the seven kingdoms of Westeros. Weight is about 3 grams per pair of pure copper.

***Please note: two pair are shown in the picture, to illustrate front and back designs***