How much are bottle caps worth in Fallout?

Overview

We are bringing you a video from The Game Theorists’ channel that poses a post-apocalyptic question: how much are bottle caps worth in Fallout?

In the fascinating yet chaotic world of Fallout, currency isn’t what you’d expect. Instead of dollar bills or gold coins, bottle caps serve as the primary medium of exchange. But how much are they really worth in real-world dollars? Let’s explore the peculiar economics of Fallout as we take a deep dive into this unique universe.

A post-apocalyptic currency

Imagine a world where nuclear war has ravaged the Earth, and survival is the name of the game. In Fallout, humanity is scattered, living in small, irradiated communities. With the collapse of civilization, traditional money has lost its value, and people have turned to something more abundant—bottle caps.

But why bottle caps? For starters, after the bombs dropped, there were no factories left to produce them, making bottle caps a finite resource. In economic terms, this limited supply helps prevent inflation, a problem that could easily plague any fiat currency. Plus, bottle caps are hard to counterfeit, unlike paper money.

The economics of Fallout

To understand the value of a bottle cap, we need to look at how Fallout ties its currency to something even more valuable: water. In the wasteland, water is the most precious resource, and bottle caps serve as a stand-in for it. But how does this post-apocalyptic economy compare to real-world economics?

In Fallout: New Vegas, for example, you can collect 37 gold bars in the “Heist of the Centuries” mission. These bars, weighing 35 pounds each, can be sold for 10,539 caps. That’s a hefty price tag! Gold remains valuable even in a world devastated by nuclear fallout, which allows us to use gold as a baseline to calculate the true worth of a bottle cap.

Bottle caps in real-world dollars

Now comes the big question: how much would a bottle cap from Fallout be worth in real-world dollars? According to Game Theory’s analysis, the game’s timeline diverged from ours in 1961. Back then, the price of gold was about $35 per troy ounce. Using that as a benchmark, each bottle cap would be worth roughly $1.67 in 1961 dollars.

However, things get even more interesting when you adjust for inflation and modern gold prices. As of 2015, gold was trading at $1,095 per troy ounce. At that rate, each bottle cap would be worth a staggering $52 in today’s economy! That means if you tried to pay for Fallout 4 with caps, you’d only need two—talk about value!

The real cost of a pre-order

In 2015, a Fallout fan named Seth—known online as GatorMacheteJr—tried to pre-order Fallout 4 with 2,240 bottle caps. While this was a clever nod to the in-game currency, it also raised the question: how much did Seth actually pay?

In terms of the real-world value of steel (the material used to make bottle caps), the answer is surprisingly small. At the time, the price of steel was about $100 per metric ton, meaning each cap was worth less than a penny. Seth’s entire collection was only worth about four cents, but Bethesda rewarded his dedication by giving him a copy of the game anyway—a win for creativity.

Conclusion: the value of caps

While bottle caps may not hold much value in the real world, in Fallout, they are priceless. Whether you’re bartering for food, water, or weapons, these little pieces of metal are essential to survival in the wasteland. And who knows? If a nuclear apocalypse ever happens, you might want to start collecting bottle caps now. After all, you could be sitting on a small fortune!

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