Chapter 156 : Manufacturing Counterfeit Silver Coins~
Chapter 156: Manufacturing Counterfeit Silver Coins~
The trade exchanges between the Alliance and the Church remained quite frequent, even after receiving the oracle of the Goddess of Light.
The reason was simple — the Seris Alliance could import only raw materials, manufacture them into finished goods, and then sell them back to the continent, while the few continental nations could only export raw materials. There was hardly anything that the Alliance needed from them.
For identical goods, the chambers of commerce in the Seris Alliance could rely on their large-scale enterprises to offer lower prices and higher quality.
Mitia, who controlled everything behind the scenes, still had no intention of fully liberalizing factory licenses, keeping the market in a constant state of demand exceeding supply.
Some nations had indeed thought of increasing trade tariffs, but because of shipbuilding commissions, that move could not be employed.
Apart from not wanting to offend Seris, there was also the factor that Seris accepted materials for settlement. The massive volume of material-based transactions caused domestic economies with high proportions of these sectors to soar to staggering levels.
Several kingdoms bordering Seris had, almost unconsciously, taken up roles in the cultivation or mining of certain raw materials—such as ores, cotton plantations, and crude oil exports.
Apart from Seris, no other country could even digest such quantities. To raise tariffs or the prices of raw materials would be an act of hurting the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred oneself.
Speaking of which, Mitia even wanted to see if the continental Church Alliance dared to engage in an economic war with her. She had always been guarding against that possibility, deliberately restraining the large-scale expansion of domestic enterprises through administrative means.
With the entire subcontinent’s market at her back, if something went wrong externally, she could simply shift external demand to internal demand by increasing domestic infrastructure investments — her opponents, however, might not be able to do the same.
The Church’s side, on the other hand, was more restrained; Mitia, however, had no such scruples when dealing with them.
Inside the Department of Special Precision Engineering, Mitia sat at the main seat, studying a Church silver coin in her hand. Magic power flowed through her fingers, and the coin emitted a faint silvery glow.
“Hmm?”
She then took out a genuine Church silver coin from her Space Ring and activated it. It too emitted a glow, with roughly the same weight. If there was any difference, perhaps the genuine one’s magical resonance felt subtler...
The former Dwarven King, now the master smith of the Precision Department, Hawthorne, said proudly:
‘Your Majesty, when the Alliance unified the subcontinental forces of the Church, we acquired the minting templates for the Church’s silver coins. In terms of appearance and craftsmanship, we can even make them more exquisite than the Church itself!’
Mitia nodded. She knew that — back when she visited the former Church headquarters in the old royal capital, she had seen it firsthand, though she hadn’t thought much of it at the time.
The Church’s silver coins had a purity of over 95%. As excellent magical conductive materials, silver held value in this world comparable to gold of similar rarity.
Church silver coins were highly liquid. Their specifications were standardized, purity consistent, and craftsmanship decent. Before Seris implemented currency paperization, both nations and civilians mainly used the Church’s silver coins.
Silver itself had stable value in this world. Imitations made from alloys could hardly match its magical conductivity — one could tell true from false at a single touch.
But now, what was this thing she held?
‘Your Majesty, please take a look...’
Hawthorne presented a tray with half-finished silver coin pieces. Mitia looked down to see that the interior of each half had a deep recess. He explained:
‘The new alloy is slightly heavier than silver of the same volume and lacks natural magical circuits. However, we can carve a simple magic amplification array inside and fill the recess with elemental crystals.’
‘As for the weight, it can be fine-tuned according to the density of the crystals. The outer layer can then be silver-plated, reducing the actual silver content to about 15%, yet achieving an almost identical appearance to the original.’
As Hawthorne spoke with pride, Mitia asked a critical question: “How can you ensure that users won’t melt them down for magical materials?”
Silver was used as currency precisely because it had intrinsic value and long-term price stability — largely because it could always be used as a raw material.
No matter how finely crafted the imitation, once melted down, wouldn’t its secret be exposed?
‘Heh heh... Your Majesty, that’s where you might not know. The Church’s common silver coins in circulation would indeed face that problem. However, the ones used internally by the Church are not the same.’
‘They use what’s called “Glory Coins”, circulated only within the Church — higher in purity, more exquisite, more ornamental, and far more valuable.’
‘Because of faith, they dare not damage them artificially. Anyone caught doing so would be punished under Church doctrine...’
‘Most importantly, their anti-counterfeiting marks are identical to those of the general silver coins. The rest — the fine engravings and decorations — we can replicate perfectly. The Federal Central Bank’s minting department’s skills are far superior to theirs.’
Mitia’s eyes brightened the more she listened. She looked at Hawthorne as if she were looking at a god of wealth. “Is the process difficult? What’s the production output? What’s the final cost?”
Caught off guard by Mitia’s string of questions, Hawthorne thought for a moment and replied:
‘Not too difficult. For mass production, we’ll need help from our colleagues in the Central Bank. Material and craftsmanship combined, the cost is quite low — one genuine coin can produce five counterfeits.’
“Hiss—”
Mitia inhaled sharply. This could very well drain the Church dry in one move.
“Make me a batch of samples first. I’ll take a look. We’ll discuss this later — I need to think it over.”
‘As you command, Your Majesty.’
“Oh, right...”
Surrounded by her maids, Mitia paused and turned her head toward Hawthorne, a playful smile curling her lips. “Little Nai is still grounded at home, isn’t she?”
‘Yes, Your Majesty...’
Hawthorne scratched his head awkwardly. His rugged face flushed dark red. He had no real way to deal with his daughter who had publicly beaten someone up.
Not to mention disciplining Little Nai with a spanking — if he even dared raise a hand, his wife, thoroughly enlightened by Alliance gender equality ideals, would hammer him like an iron ingot regardless of him once being a king.
“The court ruling has come out. Indeed, the man was guilty of molesting a young girl. The father, as the main offender, is sentenced to five years’ imprisonment without reduction. The mother, for negligence, is sentenced to three years with one year’s probation, and both are stripped of their parental and reproductive rights.”
“Little Nai and her friends did quite well. The Alliance government will cover all their future educational expenses. Their medals of honor will be entered into their personal records, plus five extra points for the national exam.”
“But their method wasn’t quite right. So apart from the reward, her confinement must not be shortened by even a single day.”
‘Yes, yes, I understand... Thank you, Your Majesty.’
Mitia nodded and turned to leave. The Alliance judges’ decision was sound. Imprisonment wasn’t the main point — the key was to strip scum like that of their right to reproduce. Those unfit to be parents shouldn’t even try.
According to the neighborhood office’s report, while the girl showed some redness and swelling, there was no substantial injury — likely because the culprit had been hammered before he got the chance.
Thus, the sentence wasn’t particularly heavy. But under the Alliance’s prison laws, inmates sentenced to five years or more were sent to front-line construction and hazardous labor reform zones.
Hence, five years in the Alliance marked the dividing line for sentencing — a mid-level crime that placed offenders among higher-category prisoners.
And since he went in under the label of “child molester,” Mitia believed the brothers inside would surely give him a very warm welcome~