“Beauty, Order, and the Occasional Anti-Counterfeit Measure.”
The Council of Engraving and Printing is charged with the noble and exacting task of designing, minting, and producing the Kingdom’s physical symbols of value and honor. These include the Aureal banknotes, shiel coinage, state medals, and various commemorative and ceremonial tokens—each one crafted not merely as currency, but as art.
It is said that a nation is known by its money; in Eyehasseen, it is known by its engraving. The Council operates in a rare atmosphere where mathematics, metal, and majesty converge—accompanied by the ever-present smell of ink and the comforting hum of precision presses.
🏛️ Responsibilities of the Council
💵 Currency Design & Printing
Designs and prints all denominations of the Aureal and Shiel, featuring high-security engraving, microtext, embossing, watermarks, and portraits that look solemn even when slightly smudged.
🪙 Coin Minting & Metallurgy
Manages the Royal Mint at Mount Castor, where shiels, crescents, glints, and crowns are stamped with royal symbols and heroic visages. The sound of freshly minted coin is considered therapeutic by senior engravers.
🏅 Medals & Decorations
Commissions and strikes orders of merit, valor, service, and civic distinction—each with its own ribbon, clasp, and obscure Latin phrase.
🧿 Ceremonial Tokens & Collector’s Issues
Issues seasonal or commemorative items including Centennial Tokens, Exchequer Medals, and limited-run Frostmint Shiels—which, for reasons no one recalls, are only accepted in one village and only in February.
🧑🎨 Notable Members
- Master Gravist Leland Oxmoor, Chief Engraver
Known to personally redraw each royal eyebrow until “the character is properly expressed.” Doesn’t use erasers on principle. - Dame Florina Quist, Minister of Color & Tint
Developed the verdant marbling of the One Aureal note. Defended its hue before Parliament with “scientific elegance and ruthless charting.” - Sir Bartram Quill, Master of Minting
Once claimed he could hear the difference between a perfect stamp and a flawed strike. He was, it turned out, entirely correct.
🔍 Behind the Scenes
- Printing & Paper Security Division
Oversees inks, paper fibers, and the sacred art of the “Dry Snap.” - Numismatic Registry of the Realm
Archives all official mintings, prevents unauthorized issues, and maintains the Kingdom’s “Coin of Record” vault. - Design Review Panel
Has weekly meetings where artists explain why their lions don’t look like dogs.
“To engrave is to remember. To mint is to bestow. To smudge is to start again.”
— Leland Oxmoor, after spilling tea on a proof sheet