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Gold Gold is one of the main statistics in Civilization VI. It is used as the main standardized currency not only of your empire, but also in the entire game world. It is needed for maintaining infrastructure and armies, for trading with other civilizations, and more.

Mechanics[]

Gold Gold is gathered and spent empire-wide, like Science Science and Culture Culture. But unlike them, unspent Gold Gold can be accumulated in the player's treasury once automatic expenses are deducted from income. The amount of Gold Gold in the treasury is always visible in the upper left corner of the UI.

Right next to the treasury you can see your Gold Gold flow — the current difference between expenses and income in your empire — which is added to or subtracted from the treasury at the beginning of each turn. Unlike other stats, you can have positive or negative Gold Gold flow, and the latter can severely hamper your development. Note that your Gold Gold flow may sometimes change between turns (for example, due to the beginning of a diplomatic deal, or a switch in policies), so the number you see at the end of each turn may not always match the actual change in your treasury.

Uses[]

The uses of Gold Gold are many and diverse. Although Gold Gold is not essential for the basic development of your civilization or its cities (this is reserved for other stats, such as Culture Culture and Science Science), it is still absolutely necessary. Since it is the standard currency in the game, it is used to pay for all regular expenses of your empire. The amount of Gold Gold necessary to cover your maintenance costs and any other expenditures is automatically deducted from your treasury at the beginning of each turn. The Gold Gold that is left can be spent on special activities, such as trading with other leaders or making purchases.

Maintenance[]

Gold Gold is required to pay the upkeep, or maintenance cost, of almost every unit and building in the game, as well as all specialty District Districts (except for the Commercial Hub and the Harbor, which pay for their own upkeep with the Gold Gold they produce). While unit maintenance costs are initially small (around 1-3 Gold Gold), they usually scale with the game era and can become quite large late in the game. A Spearman from the Ancient Era, for example, has a maintenance cost of 1 Gold Gold, whereas a Giant Death Robot from the Information Era has a maintenance cost of 15 Gold Gold. Building and district maintenance costs are fixed. Note that the very first units in the game, the Warrior, the Slinger, and the Scout (as well as the War-Cart when playing as Sumeria) are so simply outfitted that they need no maintenance.

There is no way to avoid paying maintenance costs, but one may attempt to diminish them with the following policies:

In-city spending[]

Gold Gold may be used as a currency for making purchases in a city as follows:

  • Purchasing most units and buildings within a city, if you already fulfill all their requirements (technology, districts, other buildings, etc.). They will appear instantly, and the buildings' effects will kick in immediately. Units, however, will appear with no Movement Movement, so you will not be able to use them until next turn. Note that you are not able to purchase units if there are other units of the same class already present in the same city (or district). Additionally, the price of most civilian units scales every time you purchase them - the more you buy a certain unit, the more expensive it will become.
  • Expanding the territory the city (and thus your empire) controls. You may instantly purchase tiles that are immediately adjacent to tiles you already own, up to 3 hexes away from the City Center. Note that the price grows the farther the tile is, and will also scale with technological and civic development.
  • Purchasing districts in a city. This is possible only if Reyna has her Contractor title and is established in the city as a Governor. The cost scales parallel to the Production Production cost increase of the district being purchased, and the availability of districts that can be purchased depends on all the normal constraints (Citizen Population limit, terrain availability, etc.).

1 Gold Gold is equivalent to 0.25 Production Production or 0.5 Faith Faith.

There are ways to reduce the above costs, both with policies and by certain governments.

Diplomatic deals[]

Gold Gold is often used as a part of deals with the leaders of other civilizations. You may trade both bulk amounts of Gold Gold (which are deducted only at the time of the deal) or gold-per-turn (GPT) with another civilization, which will effectively alter your Gold Gold flow for the duration of the deal.

Other uses[]

Gold Gold may be used to attract Great Person Great People via patronage. This is especially useful for empires that developed their Gold Gold capabilities while neglecting other aspects of the game, and can't manage to produce enough GPPs to beat the competition.

The Suzerain of a city-state may spend Gold Gold to take control of the city-state's military, which will will remain under their control for up to 30 turns.

Sources[]

Gold Gold sources are numerous, but which ones you are able to use varies greatly in the different parts of the game.

Terrain and resources[]

These will be your main sources of Gold Gold at the beginning of the game. Gold Gold from terrain is not as scarce as in Civilization V: Brave New World, yet not as abundant as Civilization V: Gods & Kings. Coast tiles and the Oasis feature both grant a base yield of +1 Gold Gold for being worked.

Apart from this, bonus Gold Gold yield is provided by numerous Luxury Resources, as well as some Bonus Resources:

Tile improvements[]

A few tile improvements grant bonus Gold Gold yields. The most important of these are the Camp (+1 Gold Gold; +1 Gold Gold with Synthetic Materials) and the Plantation (+2 Gold Gold; +1 Gold Gold with Globalization). Both of these provide their initial bonus Gold Gold from the very start of the game, which makes them important sources for a nascent empire.

The following improvements also yield Gold Gold after sufficient technological development:

Late in the game, the Seaside Resort can become a major Gold Gold source. Each one nets Gold Gold equal to its Appeal rating, and since Seaside Resorts may only be constructed on tiles with an Appeal of 4 or greater, they are capable of outproducing any other single tile in your territory (excluding some improved Luxury Resources).

Trading and Trade Routes[]

One of the major ways to obtain Gold Gold is via Trade Route Trade Routes, which become available soon after the start of the game after discovering Foreign Trade. Trade Route Trade Routes to international destinations (both other civilizations and city-states) will garner large amounts of Gold Gold income, especially later in the game when you've established Trading Post Trading Posts and extended the range of your routes. Note that making routes to city-states of which you're the Suzerain won't net additional income. Domestic Trade Route Trade Routes may also provide Gold Gold with certain policies.

You can also get substantial income from making trading deals with other civilizations. There are many things you may trade to the other leaders, getting either GPT or single large payments of Gold Gold in return.

The problem is that bad diplomatic relations severely hamper trading deals, up to the point of making them impossible. A civilization striving for a Domination Victory, for example, will find it significantly more difficult to strike deals due to the warmongering penalties it has incurred. Not only that, but it will have to be very careful where it sends its Traders - other civilizations which are at war with it will plunder the Trade Route Trade Routes, severely limiting this income possibility.

Districts and buildings[]

In the middle game your main source of Gold Gold will switch towards its dedicated district: the Commercial Hub. Its adjacency bonuses grant extra Gold Gold and are fairly easy to activate (due to the prevalence of River and coastal settlements). Its buildings, the Market, the Bank, and the Stock Exchange, also provide massive boosts (+3, +5, and +7 Gold Gold respectively), and its Specialists grant +4 Gold Gold each.

Trade city-states grant up to +8 Gold Gold in every Commercial Hub in your empire (and in Gathering Storm, in every Harbor) based on the number of Envoy Envoys assigned to that particular city-state. The Capital Capital gets an additional +4 Gold Gold per city-state.

Although the Commercial Hub is the main source of district Gold Gold income, the Harbor creates substantial Gold Gold income as well. Its Specialists grant +2 Gold Gold each, it generates Gold Gold adjacency bonuses, and its Lighthouse and Seaport grant +1 and +2 Gold Gold respectively.

The Palace of a civilization's Capital Capital, located in the City Center, also grants +5 Gold Gold.

Wonders[]

Several Wonders grant bonus Gold Gold upon completion, including:

Gold Gold can also be obtained from natural wonders:

Policy cards[]

Many policy cards grant bonus Gold Gold once their conditions are met. These include:

Unique bonuses[]

Many unique pieces of infrastructure and civ/leader abilities grant special Gold Gold bonuses. Below is a non-exhaustive list:

  • The unique tile improvement of Scythia, the Kurgan, grants +3 Gold Gold.
  • The unique tile improvement of France, the Château, grants +1 Gold Gold and an additional +2 Gold Gold if built next to a River.
  • The unique tile improvement of China, the Great Wall, grants +1 Gold Gold for each adjacent Great Wall (2 Gold Gold in Gathering Storm).
  • The unique tile improvement of Persia, the Pairidaeza, grants +2 Gold Gold and an additional +1 Gold Gold for each adjacent Commercial Hub or City Center.
  • The unique building of Poland, the Sukiennice, grants +4 Gold Gold for each domestic Trade Route Trade Route.
  • The unique district of England, the Royal Navy Dockyard, grants +2 Gold Gold if built on a different continent than England's Capital Capital.
  • The unique district of Kongo, the Mbanza, grants +4 Gold Gold.
  • Nkisi, Kongo's civ ability, grants them +4 Gold Gold for each Relic Relic, Artifact Artifact, and Sculpture Sculpture in their civilization.
  • All Roads Lead to Rome, Rome's civ ability, grants them extra Gold Gold for each Trade Route Trade Route going through one of their cities.
  • Treasure Fleet, Spain's civ ability, grants them +3 Gold Gold from Trade Route Trade Routes, which is tripled if they travel between continents.
  • Satrapies, Persia's civ ability, grants them +2 Gold Gold from each domestic Trade Route Trade Route.
  • Mediterranean's Bride, Cleopatra's leader ability, grants her +4 additional Gold Gold for each of her Trade Route Trade Routes to international destinations. Additionally, other civilizations' Trade Route Trade Routes to Egypt grant her +2 Gold Gold.
  • Lithuanian Union, Jadwiga's leader ability, grants her +4 Gold Gold from each Relic Relic.
  • Sahel Merchants, Mansa Musa's leader ability, grants him +1 Gold Gold to Trade Route Trade Routes per flat Desert tile in the sending city.
  • Favorable Terms, Poundmaker's leader ability, grants +1 Gold Gold to the receiving city of Trade Route Trade Routes per Camp or Pasture in the receiving city.
  • Queen of Ndongo and Mtamba, Nzinga Mbande's leader ability, gives all cities on the same continent as her Capital Capital a 10% Gold Gold bonus and all cities on other continents a 15% Gold Gold penalty.
  • Bakuhan, Tokugawa's leader ability, grants his domestic Trade Route Trade Routes +2 Gold Gold for each specialty district at the destination.
  • Sword of Persia, Nader Shah's leader ability, grants his domestic Trade Route Trade Routes +3 Gold Gold when sent from captured cities.
  • R&F-Only Lijia, Yongle's leader ability, grants +2 Gold Gold for each Citizen Citizen in a city with a Citizen Population of 10 or more.
  • Sogolon, Sundiata Keita's leader ability, grants +4 Gold Gold from each Great Work of Writing Great Work of Writing.
  • Sword of Persia, Nader Shah's leader ability, grants his domestic Trade Route Trade Routes +3 Gold Gold when sent from captured cities.
  • Drake's Legacy, Elizabeth I's leader ability, grants her Trade Route Trade Routes to city-states +3 Gold Gold for each specialty district in the origin city.
  • The unique unit of Mali, the Mandekalu Cavalry, grants Gold Gold equal to 100% of the Strength Combat Strength of each unit it kills.
  • If the Secret Societies game mode is enabled:
    • Chorus, the Voidsingers' Level 1 title, allows each of a member's cities to earn Gold Gold per turn equal to 20% of its Faith Faith per turn rate.
    • Master Plan, the Owls of Minerva's Level 3 title, grants a member half the Gold Gold that a city targeted for a successful offensive espionage mission earned that turn and a 3% interest rate on the Gold Gold in the player's treasury each turn.

Other sources[]

Clearing barbarian outposts earns your civilization a Gold Gold reward, which varies with the difficulty level of the game.

A few Promotion Promotions provide Gold Gold:

Several Great Person Great People and projects provide Gold Gold bonuses:

Finally, Gold Gold may be procured via three distinct founder beliefs:

  • Church Property grants the founding civilization +2 Gold Gold for each city following their Religion.
  • Stewardship grants the founding civilization +1 Gold Gold for each Commercial Hub of each city following their Religion.
  • Tithe grants the founding civilization +1 Gold Gold (+3 Gold Gold in Gathering Storm) for every 4 followers of their Religion.

See also[]

Civilization VI Statistics [edit]
Culture CultureDiplomatic Favor Diplomatic Favor GS-OnlyFaith FaithFood FoodGold GoldPower Power GS-OnlyProduction ProductionScience ScienceTourism Tourism
GS-Only Added in the Gathering Storm expansion pack.
Civilization VI [edit]
Rise and FallGathering StormNew Frontier PassLeader Pass
Lists
Concepts
Miscellaneous
R&F-Only Added in the Rise and Fall expansion pack.
GS-Only Added in the Gathering Storm expansion pack.
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