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John Wick: What's The Actual Value Of A Gold Coin?
How do the gold coins work in John Wick, and what's their true value? For an action franchise, the mythology of the John Wick universe is surprisingly intricate, with Keanu Reeves' character existing inside a vast fictional world of secretive mercenaries, shadowy syndicates and violent traditions. The network of operatives involved in the operation is surprisingly widespread, with body removers, doctors, hotel concierges and tailors all offering the services to Wick and his colleagues. As part of their culture, however, the mercenaries do not pay these associates with regular money. Instead, the entire mercenary world uses its own currency of gold coins to purchase everything from hotel rooms to new weapons.
These gold coins are heavily present throughout the trio of John Wick movies so far, with each of the Continental's guests earning coins by executing contracts and then spending them within the same community. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum reveals how these coins come to be in circulation, with Jerome Flynn's Berrada responsible for producing the medallions in Casablanca. The real curiosity in John Wick's economy, however, is how mostly everything seems to cost only a few coins. From cleaning up a bloodbath to ordering a drink, spending coins seems to be a fairly level playing field in John Wick's mythology, with no discernible exchange rate. How does their system work?
In the real world, the paper and metal used for cash or the digital ones and zeroes of a bank transaction have no intrinsic value. The fun twist of John Wick money is that the coins are smelted with real gold, making each piece worth a tidy sum at banks that don't accept deadly mercenaries as clients. Based on the approximate size of each coin and the current price of gold, each piece would be worth just north of $2000 in proper money, but this isn't where the true value lies in John Wick's currency. The worth of the Continental's gold coins comes in the social contract they represent, as alluded to by Berrada. The coin offers an assurance of service - the trust, secrecy and honor at the core of the mercenary code. Essentially, whenever a person presents a coin, they ensure that whatever service they receive comes with the High Table's promise of safety and security - the kind of promise regular money can't buy.
As for the nonsensical exchange rate, it could be argued that all services available in John's line of work come with a similar amount of risk, even for the humble bartender, meaning prices are high whatever the service. Perhaps the most appropriate way of viewing these coins, therefore, isn't as a monetary exchange but as the promise of a favor. A doctor does John Wick a service by patching him up and receives a coin, he can then buy a favor from someone else, and so forth. This is an extension of the blood pact "markers" in John Wick, which differ by being exclusive between two people and impossible to refuse.
Muddying the waters somewhat is how the High Table's contracts (the one on John's own life, for example) are presented with a value in U.S. dollars. This could simply be a narrative technique to demonstrate to the audience just how much the bad guys hate John Wick, but it might also prove that some kind of mathematical exchange rate does exist between gold coins and regular currency. The fact that mercenaries are presumably able to buy gas and groceries at their local store also supports the idea that exchanging gold coins for regular cash must happen. Some have suggested that the dollar value on hit contracts might allude to a hierarchy system, whereby one coin from John Wick, for instance, is worth more than one from Dave, the Continental's new intern.
Whatever the nature of the coins from the John Wick movies, this mystical, unfathomable currency helps create a world that continues to fascinate and thrill.
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2022)
Release Date: May 27, 2022
