Coin

Coin is a resource in Age of Empires III, obtained by various means. It is primarily used as a form of currency and replaces the resource gold from previous titles in the series.

Acquiring coin
Coin can be found and acquired through a large number of ways, some depending on the civilization that a player chooses.

Mines
Coin can be mined from four different types of deposits. These are Tin Mines, Copper Mines, Silver Mines, and Gold Mines. Tin Mines hold, Silver and Copper Mines each hold , and Gold Mines hold. To mine coin, all a player must to do is task a Villager (or any other resource gathering unit) on the mine and the unit will automatically mine from it. Gathering rates can be improved with Market upgrades and Home City shipments.

Whaling
Players can fund their military efforts by assigning fishing ships to gather coin from various animals of the sea such as Humpback Whales, Beluga Whales, and Minke Whales. However, true Fishing Boats do so much faster than the other ships as only they benefit from improvements (except for the Japanese, whose warships benefit from Peacetime Fishing). Each spot can supply an infinite amount of coin, but only up to four fishing ships may gather from a single spot at a time. Whaling is slower than mining gold, copper, and silver but is recommended for a late game supply of gold when mines are depleted. Gather rates can be improved from Home City shipments and via Dock upgrades. This includes cost reduction cards for fishing ships, or docks as the player can get more of them out quickly.

Buildings
The following buildings can produce coin, or give access to upgrades otherwise unobtainable by a civilization.

All civilizations are able to produce coin through either Rice Paddies (Asian civilizations) or Plantations (European civilizations and Native Americans). These buildings have upgrades which make for faster gather rates and there are also cards that can be sent from the Home City to improve the gather rates.

Banks are buildings that are unique to the Dutch civilization. There is a limit of the number of banks that the Dutch can build. Home City Cards allow for cheaper Banks, better Bank generation rates, and a higher Bank build limit. The Japanese are also able to build a single Bank. To do this, the player must ally with the Dutch through the Consulate and pay 400 export to receive a Bank Wagon that can be turned into a Bank. However, this Bank will not be able to be upgraded and no more can be built.

Factories can be built by all European civilizations as well as some other civilizations, such as the Chinese and Indians (campaign only). European civilizations can build up to two Factories that can be improved with researchable technologies at the Factory. For the Chinese or the Indians to receive a Factory, the player must ally with the Russians at the Consulate. India cannot ally with Russia outside of the campaign, however. For 800 export, the player can send a Factory to their Home City shipment point.

The Capitol building does not produce coin, however this building (for European civilizations, Town Center for expansion civilizations) can be used to research Excessive Taxation, which will increase gather rates for coin production and provide a +2 limit to Banks for the Dutch.

Shrines can be built by the Japanese and can be configured to automatically produce coin. The generation rates can be increased by attracting animals, or tasking herdables to them, through the Heavenly Kami card, and building the Toshogu Shrine.

Consulates produce a trickle of 0.8/sec, or 48/min if the Japanese ally with the Dutch. The Japanese can also temporarily ally with the Spanish to purchase the Nanban Trade upgrade, retaining it even if they later switch to a different ally.

Wonders such as the Toshogu Shrine and the Porcelain Tower will also trickle in resources. The Toshugu Shrine will boost the rates of other Shrines as well as act as a powerful shrine itself (but not benefit from the bonus to regular shrines it provides), and the Porcelain Tower can generate all resources simultaneously but at a reduced rate. Both can be configured to generate coin exclusively. The Karni Mata will not trickle in coin, but does boost gather rates of those around it by 10%.

Building Trading Posts on Trade Routes, and upgrading them to a Stagecoach or Trade Cart is another way to obtain coin, and produce around 40 coin a minute per trading post, and 48 with a Train.

Building Trading Posts at Incan (mines only), Huron (fishing boats only), Klamath (all unit gatherer types), Navajo (all unit gatherer types), Sufi (all unit gatherer types), and Udasi (plantations only) settlements enables coin gather rate improvements. Building one at a Mapuche settlement results in a gain of 100 coin for every two minutes the game has lasted, up to thirty minutes (1500 coin) in the Fortress Age. The Incas and Mapuche share the Araucania map, while the Sufi and Udasi share the Deccan and Silk Road maps.

Markets are another way to acquire coin. Players can sell wood or food in exchange for coin. The Advanced Market card can be sent from the Home City to improve the exchange rates between resources. It is possible to focus on food to sell, and make a profit when using the card, though it is not optimal.

Treasures
The player can also get coin from finding Treasures. Treasures can award units, experience, unit bonuses, food, wood, and coin. With certain home city shipments this can be done rapidly, or to significantly improved effect (e.g. the Mountain Warrior card as Japan doubles resources gained from treasure hunting).

Allies
The player can get coin from friendly players. Demands can be sent to computer players for instant payments of coin or for many amounts over time. In multiplayer, players can also ask teammates for some spare coin if they have run out.

Other methods
The French, Iroquois, Indians and Chinese possess cards that exchange all of their current food, or export for a greater amount of coin. The exchange rates are 1.25 coin for 1 food (Fur Trade), and 1.6 coin for 1 export (Dowager Express).
 * Exchange cards

The Home City Card Capitalism, available to the Spanish, Germans, and Ottomans in the Discovery Age, grants a permanent trickle of 1.25 coin per second, or 75 a minute. This is nearly equivalent to 2 Trading Posts (with the Stagecoach, or Trade Cart upgrade costing 200 food, and wood), and exactly equivalent to 2.1 Settlers or Villagers, 1.7 Coureur des Bois, or Cree Coureur des Bois, or 1.1 Settler Wagons gathering from a mine without any gather rate bonuses. One of the better uses of the card is as the second shipment for the Spanish (whose civilization bonus usually means three shipments in the Discovery Age), with Advanced Trading Posts as the first so as to gain a gold trickle (that cannot be lost) comparable to owning two upgraded trading posts while the actual owned trading posts compound their shipment advantage until they can be upgraded to provide even more coin.
 * Trickles

The Sioux Earth Bounty card produces a trickle of 0.65 wood and coin.

Selecting the Germans as an ally for the Chinese at the Consulate will grant an upgrade identical to the above mentioned Capitalism, but in the Industrial Age. The fact it can be acquired and the ally changed while still retaining the trickle makes it useful to supplement other late game sources.

The Sumptuary Laws (Chinese, Japanese) Home City card in the Discovery Age grants a trickle of 0.3 coin, wood, food, and 0.15 export and experience. The TEAM Sumptuary Laws (Indians) card in the Discovery Age grants a trickle of 0.2 coin, food, wood, and 0.1 export and experience per second to everyone on the team. The single version, and team versions stack.

Age of Empires III also offers the option of Home City shipments as a means to get extra coin. Once selected, coin arrives in the form of chests to the shipment point which by default is Town Center. Villagers must work on them to unpack them to the coin supply.
 * Crates

Civilization differences:
 * The Mapuche Treaty of Quillin is only available with the The WarChiefs expansion, and they are the only minor civilization to offer any type of coin crate shipment outside of the campaigns.
 * Every civilization can ship the 300 Coin card infinitely in the Discovery Age.
 * Every civilization may ship the 600 Coin card and 700 Coin card in the Colonial Age.
 * The Ottomans also ship and share with allied players TEAM 600 Coin card in the Industrial Age.
 * Every civilization except the Spanish may ship the 1000 Coin card in the Fortress Age.
 * The Ottomans may also ship and share with allied players the TEAM 1000 Coin card in the Industrial Age.
 * The Portuguese and Russians may ship the 1600 Coin card in the Industrial Age.
 * The Ottomans may ship and share "TEAM Silk Road" card which will increase all the coin, food, and wood shipping containers above from 100 to 130 among allied players as well.
 * Every shipment card can be unlocked among the New World Trading cards in the consequent order as listed below, except for the Ottomans.
 * The Ottomans' 700 Coin and TEAM 600 Coin cards both require the 600 coin card to be unlocked.
 * The 1,000 Coin card needs the 700 Coin card to be unlocked.
 * "TEAM Silk Road" requires the 1000 Coin card to be unlocked.
 * "TEAM 1000 Coin" needs the "TEAM 700 Coin" card to be unlocked.

Cheats
Coin can also be obtained by entering the cheat code give me liberty or give me coin. Doing so instantly grants +.

Gather rates
This table shows the initial gathering rates, card and Consulate granted trickle rates are fixed and can not be increased, though they can be stacked with other trickle cards available to that civilization. Trade Routes will vary depending on length, and number of sites available, shown is the average one can expect on the majority of maps.

Home City. Consulate and Native shipments
Only shipments producing, or enhancing crates, and providing trickles are listed. Those affecting gather rates for units, or buildings are too numerous and would clog up the list.