Coin Bearer Quotes

Are there things you would not do for any amount of money? For any consideration? For a young body? The Integrity Coin attests to the bearer's inaccessibility to any quantitative bribe. The coin certifies that the bearer has definitely refused the Devil's Bargain.

There are different kinds of darkness,' Rhys said. I kept my eyes shut. 'There is the darkness that frightens, the darkness that soothes, the darkness that is restful.' I pictured each. 'There is the darkness of lovers, and the darkness of assassins. It becomes what the bearer wishes it to be, needs it to be. It is not wholly bad or good.' I only saw the darkness of that dungeon cell; the darkness of the Bone Carver's lair. Cassian swore, but Azriel murmured a soft challenge that had their blades striking again. 'Open your eyes,' I did. And found darkness all around me. Not from me- but from Rhys. As if the sparring ring had been wiped away, as if the world had yet to begin. Quiet. Soft. Peaceful. Lights began twinkling- little stars, blooming irises of blue and purple and white. I reached out a hand toward one, and starlight danced on my fingertips. Far away, in another world perhaps, Azriel and Cassian sparred in the dark, no doubt using it as a training exercise. I shifted the star between my fingers like a coin on the hand of a magician. Here in the soothing, sparkling dark, a steady breath filled my lungs. I couldn't remember the last time I'd done such a thing. Breathed easily. Then the darkness splintered and vanished, swifter than smoke on wind. I found myself blinking back the blinding sun, arm still out, Rhysand still before me. Still without a shirt.

Caesar’s image is branded on lifeless metal, while God’s image is placed on life itself. We are God’s coins, divine image-bearers. Caesar’s coins are all the same, but people are not. Caesar is about uniformity, mass production, sameness. God is about diversity, every person with unique DNA and no one with the same fingerprint.

Money itself is intrinsically linked to the idea of a ledger. Physical currency like gold coins and paper money are, similarly, record-keeping devices; they too aid with societal memory. It’s just that rather than existing within a written account of transactions, a currency’s record-keeping function is abstracted into the token—the gold coin, the dollar bill. That token is communally recognized as conveying some right to goods or services that the bearer has earned from tasks performed in the past.