Gold Coins are a unique mint of coin, used as an almost universal currency for services in the underworld. This separates the underworld from the systems of paper money or digital credit used in legal enterprises, with the nature of these coins and their use rendering them effectively untraceable by any banks or authority. The coins are used mostly in the Continental Hotel chains for various underworld services but other underworld services can also be paid by the coins.
Coin Press[]
Back in the 1970s, Frankie Scott seized the coin press that was used to mint the High Table's gold coins, resulting in a conflict between Cormac O'Connor and Frankie's brother Winston and his associates, while the High Table dispatched an Adjudicator to oversee the situation. Winston then keeps the coin press somewhere safe sealed in a secret vault where no one knows except him and his allies after the Continental takeover.
Function[]
The currency used in the underworld is a special type of gold coin. While their use is universal in criminal society, it can be speculated that the value of the coin is not measured directly in United States dollars, but rather in favors, as various characters can be seen paying for a favor of varying monetary value with a single coin; always one coin per favor, as long as a single service can be distinctly selected as worth paying for.
The Continentals appear to double as banking or treasury services for the exchange of gold coins, with Winston overseeing the minting and distribution of new coins by experienced counterfeiters of other currencies in order to ensure a healthy circulation throughout the underworld.
numerous stacks of gold coins in Wick's "safe"
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Obverse
There is not a consistent exchange rate and it is unknown if the coins can be exchanged for cash. The coins can be exchanged for various goods and services in the underworld, be it a knife, an AR-15, a single night at The Continental, clean-up, a map, a key, a passage, and disposal of dead bodies, or a bar tab.[1] As stated by Chad Stahelski and Dave Leitch, directors of both movies, in an interview with Screen Junkies there is no set value for these as they act more of a business card. The value of each coin can fluctuate depending on the person who holds it (i.e. John Wick's coins have more value than Addy's); some have taken this to imply that the coins are cryptocurrency "wallets". Since many underworld businesses are disguised as legitimate ones, the presentation of a coin allows access to otherwise hidden services while the public is unsuspecting.
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Reverse
Viggo Tarasov's personal stash of gold coins.
Despite the reliance on the gold coins, assassination contracts are assigned with a value designated in US dollars, possibly emphasizing that value is based on the individual.[1]
The gold coins have images and Latin phrases on both sides. On one side, a lion stands in front of a shield emblazoned with the sun as beams of the sunshine from behind it. At the top of the coin is the phrase "Ens Causa Sui," or "Something generated within itself." At the bottom are the Roman numerals MMI for 2001. On the reverse side is a person with a shield emblazoned with a cross. Below the person is a large laurel. Above the person is the phrase "Ex Unitae Vires," or "Out of unity comes strength."[2]
Trivia[]
- Gold coins have also appeared in the John Wick Fortnite expansion in the form of the Gold Token.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Colbert, Stephen M. “The Mythology of John Wick Explained.” Screen Rant, Valnet Inc., 13 Feb. 2017, screenrant.com/john-wick-world-guide-continental-sommelier/.
- ↑ Kaplan, Daniel. “What Type of Coins Does John Wick Use in the Film?” Quora, Quora, 16 Apr. 2017, www.quora.com/What-type-of-coins-does-John-Wick-use-in-the-film.