Argent
Hey Karen, I have a question I hope you can confirm for the Stormlight fans.
What are the exact gemstone types Rosharans use in their currency? In The Way of Kings Shallan suggests that only nine out of the ten Polestones are actually used in spheres (or is this wrong?), and while eight of those are accounted for in the books, we don't know whether the last one is a smokestone or a heliodor. Is this something you can and are willing to confirm for us?
Karen Ahlstrom
Here's what I have on my wiki page. I'm pretty sure it was written by Brandon before I started to work on things.
Gemstones
◆ Sapphire: blue (deep)
◆ Zircon: blue (light)
◆ Ruby: red (deep)
◆ Amethyst & Garnet: red (light)
◆ Topaz: yellow (deep)
◆ Heliodor: yellow (light)
◆ Emerald: green (deep)
◆ Smokestone: grayscale (deep)
◆ Diamond: grayscale (light)
Karen Ahlstrom
Elsewhere I found this list that shows the spheres from highest to lowest value. It says that smokestone coins are very rare.
Values: Highest - 50 (250, 1000)
◆ Stone: Emerald
◆ Color: Deep green
◆ Essence: Pulp
Values: Prime Pair - 25 (125, 500)
◆ Stone: Amethyst
◆ Color: Pale violet
◆ Essence: Mineral (Metals/claws)
◆ Stone: Sapphire (skymark)
◆ Color: Deep Blue
◆ Essence: Vapor
Values: Middle Weight - 10 (50, 200)
◆ Stone: Zircon
◆ Color: Pale blue
◆ Essence: Blood (Water-based liquids)
◆ Stone: Ruby (firemark)
◆ Color: Deep red
◆ Essence: Spark (Fire/Soul)
◆ Stone: Smokestone (Uncommon as a coin)
◆ Color: Translucent
◆ Essence: Smoke
Values: Less Weight - 5 (25, 100)
◆ Stone: Topaz
◆ Color: Pale orange
◆ Essence: Talus (Stone/Bone)
◆ Stone: Garnet
◆ Color: Deep violet (Bloodmarks)
◆ Essence: Flesh
◆ Stone: Heliodor
◆ Color: Light yellow
◆ Essence: (Sinew)
Cheapest 1 (5, 20)
◆ Stone: Diamond (Clear chip/mark/broam)
◆ Color: Transparent
◆ Essence: Glass (Crystal/Eyes)
Argent
One thing I am noticing is that the essences don't entirely match what's in the Ars Arcanum of the books.
Karen Ahlstrom
Yeah, AA is correct and what we base things on. Like I said, these are probably written by Brandon a long time ago when he was just world building.