Kirib

Kirib
კირინი (SAL ) Kirihe(OAN)
ISO 4217
Code	KRB
Number	001
Exponent	2
Denominations
Subunit
100	albon
Plural	Kiribin Kiribs
Symbol	♅
Nickname	None
Banknotes	500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 KRB
Coins	2 and 1 KRB, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 albon
Demographics
Date of introduction	1422 - Establishment
Replaced	Oan tara (The Oan Isles) Net'a (Biramura, Tuvaltastan and Tivot ) Galleon (Dragonia and Oceansend)
User(s)	Axdel Biramura Blueacia Dragonia Drakaland Emberwood Coast Faethalria Great Morstaybishlia Nolova Oan Isles Sarentria Tivot Tuvaltastan Yor
Issuance
Central bank	Auroran Central Bank
Website	acb.caek
Printer	Staynish Bank Note Company
Mint	Royal Staynish Mint

The Kirib (symbol: ♅; ISO code: KRB) is an alpha world reserve multinational currency used by countries of the continent of Aurora. The words kirib and albon originally referred to units of measurement for gold and silver in the Kingdom of Morstaybishlia. Merchant banks issued kirib certificates and coins based on gold and silver reserves. In 1422, the Kingdom of Morstaybishlia established the kirib as a currency which consisted of 128 albons. The Bank of Staynes was established shortly after to control the currency. With Great Morstaybishlia entering into agreements with other nations to enable them to use the kirib as their currency, the Kirib Monetary Union was formed.

In 1893, the Bank of Staynes decimalised the currency, making 1 kirib equal 100 albons. In the 1910s, it effectively became a representative currency and eventually abandoned the gold standard in 1975. It is the most widely traded currency in the world and the largest reserve currency in the world, with the Standard Hawking Dollar of South Hills coming at a near second-place spot. Despite the ever-changing fortunes of the nations which adopted it in the 19th century and onwards, the enduring and incredible stability and resilience of the Great Morstaybishlian economy have resulted in its rock-solid reliability. It is used by the largest and oldest monetary in the world, the Kirib Monetary Union.

History

Background

The history of the kirib is incredibly long and complex and, to an extent, represents the evolution of currency on Urth generally. To narrow the scope of this article, the article will examine the period starting from the 9th century CE. During this period, people would buy goods and services using gold and silver coins. These coins were produced by mints that were approved by the Treasury of the Morstaybishlia and they were issued in denominations that varied by weight called kiribs for gold and albons for silver. The Treasury of Morstaybishlia eventually wanted to control the supply of gold and silver coins thus it banned other mints from issuing kirib and albon coins and took over the issuance of these coins. Kiribs and albons were not necessarily currency in and of themselves. They represented the weight and type of precious metal. In reality, gold and silver coins were the real currency and were acceptable in most countries around the world, regardless of the name that was stamped on the face. Institutions called banks were established which stored gold and silver for people. They would give each depositor a certificate and/or tokens that represented the amount of gold and silver that the depositor could withdraw and they gave the weights in kiribs and albons. This allowed mints to spring up as they would issue coins called tokens that were made with low-value metals and could be redeemed at the bank at face value for silver or gold in the same way as certificates.

Merchant period

Morstaybishlia traded with nations far and wide, traders would buy vessels and undertake long trips to bring goods to and from Morstaybishlia. Around the reign of King Lambertus I, Merchants formed guilds which were institutions that were designed to protect their interests and offer mutual support. They used kirib and albon coins to trade not only within Morstaybishlia but with foreign lands. They used these coins to buy things from other traders and they, in turn, accepted them as payment for goods and services that they rendered. They found that the banks which existed were extremely tedious and inconvenient especially for long-distance trade and travel. Thus, these merchant guilds established their own banks, starting during the reign of King Lambertus II, and stored their gold and silver coins in their own vaults. These banks were called merchant banks. They issued their own certificates denominated in kiribs and albons as previous banks had done. The difference was that these merchant banks issued certificates and tokens that were recognised by increasingly wider networks of traders. Because the merchant banks had offices in multiple cities and were reliable, people, including those outside the merchant guilds accepted the certificates and coins as legitimate payment for goods and services as they trusted that they could eventually withdraw kirib and albon coins at face value.

Merchant banks realised that people would hold on to these certificates for a very long time, so they started issuing more certificates and tokens than there was gold and silver in their vaults. Moreover, they would lend out the gold and silver to other traders and then everyday people would repay them in interest, so they were comfortable in the knowledge that they would make enough money to repay their depositors and even make profits for themselves which they could lend out to others. Unfortunately, people started exploiting this system and creating their own notes and coins. The merchant banks could not keep up with the situation and they asked the Crown to step in. Under the reign of King Slev II, the Crown made it a criminal offence to counterfeit bank certificates and all certificates, tokens and gold were recorded in the ledgers of the Treasury to keep track of legal currency. This worked well, however, the merchant banks issued too many certificates and tokens. Thus, when there were tough times such as a war or drought people would want to withdraw their gold and silver coins in return for the certificates. Unfortunately, this led to some banks going bankrupt or making losses as they struggled to pay back their obligations to their depositors. This would lead to inflation, where the value of gold and silver was insufficient to pay to for the available supply of goods and services. The Crown realised that this would lead to social and political instability and would bring economic hardship upon the nation. To disassociate themselves from merchant guilds, most banks dropped the term merchant from their name unless they exclusively conducted services for merchant guilds.

Treasury period

Under King Gustav I, Treasury of Morstaybishlia decided to regulate the banks. It ordered all existing banks to keep a set amount of gold and silver in their vaults compared to the total number of certificates and tokens that they had issued, formally establishing the notion of fractional reserve banking. Moreover, banks could only be established with the approval of the Treasury according to the criteria that it set out. In 1422, under the reign of King Sigmund II, the Crown decided to formally establish the kirib as the currency of Kingdom of Morstaybishlia and all of its territories and it divided 1 kirib into 128 albons. This made the value of kiribs and albons independent of gold. This meant that kiribs and albons no longer measured the weight of pure gold and silver, but different amounts of kiribs and albons could be exchanged for a set weight of gold and silver as determined by the Treasury of Morstaybishlia. This also began the gold standard (formally called the precious metal reserve standard). The certificates and tokens of the new Kirib currency were now banknotes and coins, currency in their own right. As the duty of administering this system and handling the financial requirements of the government of Morstaybishlia became more complex and as the Treasury became so powerful that the Lord High Steward who governed it rivalled the King in power, who at the time was King Frederick I, the Crown separated currency management from the Treasury and gave those duties to the newly established Bank of Staynes, formally ending the Treasury period.

Bank of Staynes period

During the reign of Queen Rosamund the Great, the Bank of Staynes demanded that all that banks use kirib notes and coins under a new regime that it controlled, practically forbidding any mints or printers other than the Staynish Banknote Company and the Royal Staynish Mint from producing currency. The banks would request permission from the Bank of Staynes to issue a set number of banknotes and coins based on the total gold and silver in their vaults. The Bank of Staynes would write them a cheque that they could redeem at the Staynish Banknote Company and Royal Staynish Mint for a fixed number of coins and notes. Each bank would request its own unique designs. These notes and coins could be redeemed at any bank for gold and silver based on the exchange rate declared by the Bank of Staynes. By the reign of King Redmund V, the use of gold and silver in everyday transactions had practically faded. Most workers, landlords and traders accepted currency as payment and only used silver and gold for major payments such as buying a house. Thus, the Bank of Staynes was content that the economy could survive the movement of gold and silver. Moreover, Morstaybishlia's empire allowed it to create a massive internal market that reduced the total gold and silver that was used to pay for imports from outside the empire. The stability of this system became incredibly attractive to many countries that were struggling to pay for Morstaybishlian imports with gold and silver.

Kirib Monetary Union

Some countries that traded with the powerful Kingdom of Great Morstaybishlia were struggling to pay for imports. They had to take out massive loans from Morstaybishlian merchant guilds and other bodies to afford the cost of imports. They often lacked the gold and silver to pay them back. Moreover, they realised that life would be easier if they could pay them back in more abundant and easily accessible kirib coins and notes instead of physical gold and silver. Thus, they decided to approach the Crown directly and develop a system that would allow them access credit for imports. Under Queen Florence II, the Crown signed bilateral treaties with these nations whereby they could use the kirib as their currency if they adhered to strict requirements. In general, their banks were required to adhere to the fractional reserve standards that Morstaybishlian banks were required to follow. Moreover, they were required to strictly limit public spending and lending. To ensnare them and entrench their economies in the Morstaybishlian sphere, the Bank of Staynes created exceptions for payments made in kiribs, incentivising them to adopt the kirib. In return, they could keep their gold and silver in their own country. Thus, the nations that participated in this scheme were called the Kirib Monetary Union.

Decline of cash

During the reign of King Frederick III, the telegram was invented. It allowed communication over incredibly long distances and reduced the need for people to physically be in a place in order to do business. The Bank of Staynes decided that all future loans to large banks and governments would longer be in notes and coins, but they would keep the loans as balances on their respective balance sheets. This eliminated the need for physical notes and coins. Commercial banks extended similar services to their commercial clients, allowing the wealthy to keep their wealth as entries in the ledgers of banks rather than carry around notes and coins. They could simply write a document called a cheque that would allow the bearer to go to the bank where issuer of the cheque had kept their funds and request a fixed amount of currency either in the form of gold and silver or in the form of kirib notes and coins. This service became so sophisticated that bank could simply adjust their ledger entries to represent that value had shifted between their clients. Thus, large scale payments could be settled in this manner instead of piles of coins or buckets of physical money. Moreover, the Bank of Staynes favoured this method as it prevented the need to issue large-denomination banknotes. To make the process of transacting easier, the kirib was decimalised in 1893 under the reign of Queen Rosamund II, meaning that 1 kirib was now worth 100 albons. 128 old albons were set to the value of 100 new albons.

End of the gold standard

In the reign of King Thadeus I, the Great War began which was incredibly expensive and it required the Treasury of Morstaybishlia to borrow incredible amounts of gold and silver from the Bank of Staynes to pay for the war effort. People became increasingly worried that the kirib would become virtually worthless and started queueing at banks demanding that their kirib notes and coins be redeemed for gold and silver. The Crown immediately banned the use of gold and silver in everyday transactions. This had the effect of making the kirib a representative currency. Thus, people were forced to hold on to their kirib denominated assets, preventing a massive run on the banks that would have crippled the economy. People were free to pay their taxes in kiribs instead of precious metals and banks expected kiribs instead of precious metals and payments for loans. Furthermore, the government could channel these resources to fighting the war and supporting its allies in the Imperial Powers. This did not mark the end of the gold standard but withered the everyday applications of this standard except on a macroeconomic and national level. It catalysed further modernisation and reforms under the reign of King Thadeus II.

During the reign of King Galfridus, electronic lectronic systems emerged that made it easier for people to communicate and usurped the telegram. They had the effect of making banking vastly easier and reducing the dependence on physical currency for large transactions. In 1969, the Noroist Republic of Axdel seceded from Great Morstaybishlia, and whilst plans were being drawn for its own independent financial system it tentatively continued to officially remain in the Kirib Monetary Union, with transactions using the provisional 'Axdelian Kirib'. The consequent Auroran Imperial War was incredibly costly for the Bank of Staynes. Now, it was not individuals and business that would demand gold and silver, but entire governments. The Bank of Staynes dreaded the probability that the Kirib Monetary Union would effectively collapse. Moreover, the member states of the Kirib Monetary Union were on opposing sides of the war. Thus, the Bank of Staynes declared monetary neutrality, protecting the hard currency balances of participating states even if they were not allies of Great Morstaybishlia. This drew a lot of public criticism against the bank both from within Great Morstaybishlia who felt that the Bank of Staynes betrayed them and by foreigners who felt that the Bank of Staynes could be manipulated by the Morstaybishlian government to their detriment. When the war ended, all of Morstaybishlia's enemies had been driven to capitulation or stalemate, but with change occuring rapidly it wanted to prevent any collapse that would lead to instability in the KMU. Thus, it was decided that the value of kiribs would no longer be fixed to gold at all - effectively ending the gold standard. Instead, the demand and supply forces on commercial markets would dictate how much it was worth. Moreover, gold and silver as means for transactions were totally banned, relegating them to assets as any other. Emberwood Coast, North Lyrevale and Quartz Fern Coast formally joined the KMU in 1975, whilst Axdel and South Lyrevale formed their independent monetary system using the Lecrant.

United Auroran era

The KMU's member states and their successors held a meeting in Sani Bursil in which the Bank of Staynes ceded control to the newly established Auroran Central Bank that would sit in that city. This body was an international organisation that controlled the kirib and represented all member states. To prevent the transition from causing turmoil, the ACB regulated the value of the new kirib. This era has lasted to the present day. This era saw many changes to the Kirib. The Republic of Ethalria and the Matriarchy of Ethalria joined the kirib in 1975 as the Grand Matriarchy of Ethalria was dissolved. Lyrevale and Quartz Fern Coast ceased to be members when they were incorporated by Axdel, which rejoined in 1999 following financial reform.

When Salovia dissolved in 2005 following the Salovian Civil War, Tuvaltastan, Tivot, Blueacia, and Kostromastan adopted the kirib. The Oan Isles joined in 2017 when it joined the United Nations of the Auroran Continent and abandoned its own currency, the Oan tara. Following fears that the Matriarchy of Ethalria would attack Sani Bursil during the Auroran-Pacific War, the KMU agreed to move the Auroran Central Bank to Tivot. In light of the divisions sowed by the war and a desire to reunite the continent, Great Morstaybishlia renounced its right to the ACB and the KMU voted to keep it in Tivot where it moved to a specially built skyscraper.

When the Ethalrian nations collapsed following the end of the APW, Faethalria, Vothetria, Thalria, Kothalria, Drakaland and Sarentria joined the kirib, while Asilica stayed out and used its own currency. When Kostoria-Obertonia was annexed by Faethalria that area used the kirib under Faethalria. When Kostromastan collapsed, Nolova joined the KMU while Volova continues to use the kirib unofficially. The part of Kostromastan that was absorbed by Tuvaltastan was represented by that nation. Following the unification of Vothetria and Kothalria in 2021, the North Ethalrian Confederacy adopted the kirib.

Governor Pauro Toangakau of the Oan Central Bank announced on 11 May 2021, that he would ask the Auroran Central Bank to issues a formal complaint to the Packilvanian Central Bank for "artificially under valuing" the Packilvanian dinar (the currency used by Packilvania). The PCB rebutted the Oan accusations by stating that it was within their right to regulate their currency as they saw fit but they announced that they would enter currency swap arrangements in return for favorable tarrifs (effectively defeating the purpose of the complaint). On May 13 2021, the complaint was submitted.

The complaint by the Oan Central Bank was that Packilvania was unfairly restricting access to its markets, that the Packilvanian Central Bank was keeping the currency low such that the UNAC was losing industries due to failure to compete with low Packilvanian prices as well as the relatively higher cost of interest for loaning money in Packilvanian dinars . In solidarity with the OCB, the North Concordian Economic Forum imposed sanctions on Packilvania. The PCB hit back at them and told them that they would not enter negotiations with the NCEF. On 14 May 2021, the PCB announced that they would raise the exchange rate for the Packilvanian dinar allegedly in response to rising commodity prices but observers believed that they had bowed to the international pressure.

Physical currency

Banknotes

All banknotes have one standard design and they are legal tender throughout the Kirib Monetary Union. The 500 kirib banknote has gained criticism for being too large, being both an inconvenience to small institutions as well as enabling money laundering. Some nations have banned the notes altogether and require travelers to convert them to smaller notes and coins or deposit them into their accounts before entering their territory. No commemorative banknotes may be issued but a valueless 0 kirib note may be issued for numismatic purposes and to allow member states to have commemorative banknote designs. Banknotes are produced by the Staynish Banknote Company, as follows:

List of banknotes of the kirib

Denomination	Dominant Color	Dimensions (mm)	Tactile bars	Obverse Image	Obverse Design	Reverse Image	Reverse Design	Security features
5 KRB	Purple	128 x 74	1		A vignette of Aurora, olive leaves and fruit, square		Hippopotamus, scene of grassland, daffodils	Holographic patch, metallic see-through thread, latent image, intaglio printing, cotton paper, UV and infrared images, Omron rings, see-through window, fabric-based paper substrate
10 KRB	Red-orange	134 x 74	2		A vignette of Aurora, oak leaves and acorn, hexagon		Brown bear, a scene of mountains and temperate forests, pine needles and cones
20 KRB	Brown	140 x 74	3		A vignette of Aurora, cactus, octagon		Puma, a scene of deserts, aloe
50 KRB	Green	146 x 74	4		A vignette of Aurora, orchid, decagon		Jaguar, a scene of tropical rainforests, palm fronds
100 KRB	Blue	152 x 74	5		A vignette of Aurora, coral, dodecagon		Whale shark, a scene of the ocean, kelp

Coins

Each country has its own reverse design although all coins, regardless of the country design on the back, are legal tender throughout the Kirib Monetary Union. Countries can also request limited edition commemorative designs. Coins are produced by the Royal Staynish Mint as follows:

List of coins of the kirib

Denomination	Metal color	Dimensions	Edge	Physical description	Obverse Image	Obverse Design
2 KRB	Silver and gold
1 KRB	Silver
50 albon	Gold
20 albon	Gold
10 albon	Gold
5 albon	Bronze
2 albon	Bronze
1 albon	Bronze

Governance

Main article: Auroran Central Bank

Auroran Bank Headquarters, Tarov, Tivot

The kirib was formally issued by the Bank of Staynes and was established in terms of Morstaybishlian law. Other countries came to use it through bilateral treaties with Great Morstaybishlia. As the number of users grew, the currency was restructured and placed under international law through the adoption of multilateral treaties by participating nations. Now, the kirib is an international currency that is given legal effect in member states by the governments which rule them. In this process, member states comprise the Kirib Monetary Union (known colloquially as the Kiribzone) which is independent of the geopolitical organisations of the Auroran continent. The central bank of the Kiribzone is the Auroran Central Bank (abbreviated ACB). The ACB has assumed many of the functions that were undertaken by the Bank of Staynes and the central banks of participating states. It is responsible for regulating the supply, distribution, issuance, stability and exchangeability of the kirib. Member states retain authority over banking regulation, acting as the sole bankers to member states' governments, acting as the lenders of last resort in member states' financial systems and advising their governments of financial policies.

Users

The following list contains extant nations which are currently official and unofficial users of the currency.

Country name	Date of adoption	Notes
Axdel	1999	Adopted as part of financial reforms following the fall of the Noroist government
Biramura	2005-2018, 2021 (de facto)	Adopted following the dissolution of Salovia, abandoned in 2018 by the Posol regime, reverting back to the Biramuran net'a.
Blueacia	1979	Adopted following independence from Salovia
Dragonia
File:Drakaland flag.png Drakaland	2017	Continued use following the dissolution of the Ethalrian Republic
Emberwood Coast	1970	Continued use following independence from Great Morstaybishlia
Faethalria	2017	Continued use following the dissolution of the Ethalrian Matriarchy
Great Morstaybishlia	1422	Founding nation
North Ethalrian Confederacy	2021	Continued use following the amalgamation of Vothetria and Kothalria
Nolova	2017	Adopted following independence from Kostromastan
Oan Isles	2018	Adopted when the Oan Isles joined the UNAC
Oceansend
Sarentria	2017	Continued use following the dissolution of the Ethalrian Republic
Thalria	2017	Unofficial user. Continued use following the dissolution of the Ethalrian Matriarchy
Tivot	1978	Adopted following the independence from Salovia
Tuvaltastan	2005	Adopted following the dissolution of Salovia
Yor Isles

As of April 2021, only one nation (Biramura) has withdrawn from the kirib while they were independent. All the nations which stopped using the kirib did so because they were legally dissolved or annexed by another state. These are:

• The Grand Matriarchy of Ethalria stopped using the kirib when it was dissolved and divided into the Republic of Ethalria and Matriarchy of Ethalria which continued using the currency after its dissolution.
• Kostoria-Obertonia stopped using the kirib when it was annexed by Faethalria in 2019.
• Thalria stopped officially using the kirib when it became a communist state in 2019, but the currency is still used unofficially.
• Vothetria and Kothalria stopped using the kirib when they lost their status as independent nations and became part of the North Ethalrian Confederacy.
• Lyrevale stopped using the Kirib after the Lyrevale Continuation War and the act of federation with Noroist Axdel.
• Noroist Axdel stopped using the Kirib when it gained independence from Morstaybishlia, with the temporary 'Axdelian Kirib' being officially replaced by the Lecrant in 1976 after the end of the Auroran Imperial War. South Lyrevale adopted the Lecrant in the same year

Exchange rate

The Kirib was linked to precious metal reserves of the Bank of Staynes for most of its history. With the start of the industrialisation of mainland Aurora, this became untenable and thus the kirib became a solely representative currency for precious metal deposits held by the Bank of Staynes. The metal reserve standard was abandoned in the 20th century and the currency became a fiat currency. It adopted a managed float regime during its transition. Following the fading out of the managed float regime, it has been controlled entirely by market forces through the adoption of a free-floating exchange regime. The average exchange rate of the kirib to major world currency has been as follows:

Average exchange rate by year

Year	Kirib	SHD	Southeast Yasterian Recan	Salovian Net'a	Oan tara	United Krone	Jade Nudo	Red Krone	Tretridian Pound	Vekaiyun veskono	Packilvanian dinar
2022	1	1		No longer in use	No longer in use	2
2021	1	1.00		No longer in use	No longer in use	2					125
2020	1	0.99		No longer in use	No longer in use	1.99					128
2019	1	0.98		No longer in use	No longer in use	1.98					132
2018	1	0.97		No longer in use	7.57	1.97					143
2017	1	0.95		No longer in use	7.52	1.95					127
2016	1	1.01		No longer in use	7.48	2.02					178
2015	1	1.00		No longer in use	7.36	2					167
2014	1	1.00		No longer in use	7.21	2					153
2013	1	1.00		No longer in use	7.18	2					155
2012	1	1.03		No longer in use	6.93	2.06					129
2011	1	1.00		No longer in use	6.81	2					120
2010	1	0.98		No longer in use	6.34	1.98					119
2000 to 2009	1	0.97		No longer in use	6.53	1.94					115
1990 to 1999	1	1.00		153.00 (Last Official use in 1992)	6.89	2					110
1980 to 1989	1	0.97		87.00	7.10	1.94					98
1970 to 1979	1	0.95		5.50	7.45	Did not exist yet					94
1960 to 1969	1	1.12		5.38	7.73	Did not exist yet					83
1950 to 1959	1	1.17		5.47	8.17	Dod not exist yet					75