When it comes to fantasy currency, it seems to be a little too easy for authors to fall back onto vague, undeveloped forms of money. “Gold pieces” and “silver pieces” are the kinds of meaningless names that an awful lot of writers seem to go for, but they can also be very sterile, unrealistic sorts of terms for characters to use in everyday speech. Of course, you don’t need to spend a week creating an entire economic system — don’t let your worldbuilding become such an elaborate exercise that it keeps you from ever starting on the actual story! — but a moment’s consideration of how money works in your world can help you add the kind of touches that make your world more authentic and tell your readers something about your setting. In this post we’ll dive into some considerations for coinage.
