Cens

Cens serves as the everyday currency throughout Amestris, circulating in the form of paper bills and an assortment of metal coins. The name also turns up spelled as Sens or Cenz depending on the source. As with many real-world monetary systems, the notes appear to hold greater value than the coins.

In real-world terms, a single cens is pegged at roughly one Japanese yen. Its name tends to vanish from the English dubs of both anime series, which left the term fairly obscure among English-speaking fans.

A handful of on-screen prices sketch out what the money buys. A long-distance call from a pay phone runs 520 cens, a cup of coffee costs 100 cens, and a premium set of automail carries a staggering price tag of ten million cens.

The coinage comes in recognizable denominations. The ten-cens piece is a brown, likely copper coin marked with a 10 and possibly a leaf or star on its reverse. The hundred-cens coin is silver, presumably nickel, stamped with 100 on one face and the argent dragon emblem of Amestris on the other. The ten-thousand-cens note carries an image of Central Command on its back.

The currency threads through several character moments. A debt of 520 cens that Edward Elric owed to Roy Mustang was made up of one large silver coin and two ten-cens pieces, which implies the larger coin is worth 500 cens even though it looks nearly identical to the 100-cens coin. That resemblance leaves it unclear whether the larger coin differs mainly in size or whether Edward was carrying only 120 cens.

Everyday citizens and soldiers across Amestris rely on cens for ordinary transactions, and casual banter references it too, such as characters wagering tens of thousands of sens on the outcome of a bet.