Bankers and merchants, there are few more detested professions for the average citizen of of Harmony. Vultures, bottom-feeders, leeches and charlatans are some of the less vulgar terms for those who seek to profit off the common man. Still, commerce serves it purpose, and without banks and businessmen, Harmony would cease to function. So people pay their tabs and move on, consoling themselves with mutter insults and insinuations. It is from this general distaste that the term for the mercantile class has solidified around the term 'Coin Pouch'.
The term was allegedly first coined by a Rail-Jock, stating that “The only thing of any bloody value about that lot of inbred brown noses is their ******* coin pouch. Everything else is ten pound of shit in a five pound bag.”
The term has since taken on a life of it's own, becoming part of popular vernacular from the 3 strata down. Outside of the Gilded and Bazaar districts, Coin Pouches are met with hostility and scorn and it is rare for them to travel without protection. To their credit, the Mercantile class have lent into the term, seeing it as a badge of status, being wealthy enough to warrant such an honorific.
Slurs aside, Coin Pouches are shrewd individuals, savvy with their money and always alert to the threat of others taking it from them. They are also, almost invariably, endowed with an unusual amount of luck. Coin Pouches are used to a level of luxury and refinement that few other individuals can boast, which often leaves them less physically capable than those of the lower Stratas, for whom physical strength is a necessity for basic survival.
It is rare, but not unheard of, for a Coin Pouch to join a Rail Crew, either to find their first fortune or escape business deals gone wrong. It is a central tenet of the Rail Jock Code to not ask questions of a person past if the details are not offered, so Coin Pouches can be assured that as long as they remain in good standing, their secrets are safe with their crew.
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