How Gold Tokens Work in Riftbound
Spiritforged gave Riftbound a currency. Here's what a Gold gear token actually does, why it shows up exhausted, and when you get to spend it — straight from the card text.
What a Gold token is
Gold is a colorless Gear token that sits in your Base. It's not a unit and it's not a rune. The printed text on the token reads:
In plain terms: when you need resources, you exhaust the token and kill it, and it pays you back with 1 Power of any Domain. One token, one Power, any color, once.
Which cards make Gold
You don't put Gold tokens in your deck — other cards create them. The two people ask about most:
- Draven - Vanquisher (Spiritforged): "When I win a combat, play a Gold gear token exhausted."
- Plundering Poro: "When I conquer, play a Gold gear token exhausted."
Notice the pattern: you earn Gold by doing things the deck already wants to do — winning fights and taking battlefields.
The exhausted part, because everyone asks
Both of those cards play the token exhausted — turned sideways, like a card that's already been used. And since exhausting the token is part of the cost to spend it, an exhausted Gold token can't be cashed in yet.
It readies the same way everything else does: at the start of your turn, during the Awaken phase, all of your exhausted cards turn back upright — runes, units, gear, and your Legend. So the practical rhythm is: earn Gold this turn, spend it from your next turn onward.
Why Gold is better than it looks
Two reasons. First, normal resources don't keep — Gold does. A Gold token sits in your Base until you spend it or something destroys it, so you can bank resources across turns and save up for an expensive play.
Second, it's any Domain. If you're running two or three Domains, Gold quietly fixes your colors — it fills whichever Power requirement your runes came up short on. It's the closest thing Riftbound has to the mana rocks and treasure tokens of other card games.
Also worth knowing: spending Gold is a Reaction, and as the reminder text says, abilities that add resources can't be reacted to. Your opponent doesn't get to respond to you cracking a token.
About those cardboard tokens
If Gold is doing real work in your deck, the punch-out tokens get old fast. We make a 38mm solid zinc alloy Gold coin — Urf the Manatee on both faces, one side for Exhausted and one for Ready, with an antique finish you can read from across the table.
See the Gold Coins on Etsy →Quick answers
Can I spend a Gold token the turn I get it? Almost never — the cards that create Gold play it exhausted, and spending requires exhausting it. It's ready on your next turn.
Do Gold tokens expire at end of turn? No. They stay in your Base until spent or destroyed.
What does one Gold get me? 1 Power of any Domain. The token is killed as part of the cost, so it's one use.
Can my opponent respond when I spend it? No — abilities that add resources can't be reacted to.
Fact-checked July 2026 against the current Riftbound Core Rules and printed card text. Riftbound rules get patched — if something here has gone stale, tell us and we'll fix it. Turn Phase Trinkets is not affiliated with Riot Games or UVS Games.