Edit: So, before trying to make up mechanics for Crowns, I think it is important to think about what they are and what they mean. After playing and thinking about the game, I came up with the following thoughts about it. These thoughts are then appropriate for thinking about how crowns are manipulated in game. Likewise, considering how the background of the game works is relevant for the development of mechanics. In this case, our source of cannon comes from the videos, in-game text, and Chris's words on the topic. You take on the role of the supreme leader of a race crash landed on the planet. You have complete control over every aspect of your race. Each other person in your race has a neurolink which allows the immediate and complete spread of everything (knowledge, behaviors, sushi preferences, etc). You determine who is born, when, where they work, how they work, an what color of toenails they have. There are no children. People are effectively created from nothing into an adult. Your government is a complete dictatorship with no other influences. The economy, the social structures, the everything is determined by you. This makes a massive difference in what the currency crowns actually means. Perhaps I'm overthinking it.
Crowns are abstraction. They are some way of measuring your ability to do things in game. I rationalize it myself as thinking of them as effort, natural resources, tools, and so forth (i.e., stuff). Effectively, units of barter. So when you build a factory, it produces extra stuff. When you build a bank, your citizens produce more stuff in order to have stuff in their bank accounts (it is a scam, what do your citizens spend money on?). Given that, having racial names for it seems out of place and unnecessary, especially since they just translate it back to 'our' language anyway.
Edit. And this is why I try to be brief, because otherwise I write too much text, probably much of which is redundant.
