Most Scarterran nations use the same or a very similar system of a precious metal based economy.
A standard coin is made of copper, silver, gold, or on rare occasions platinum and weighs 1/50th of a pound. So a pound of gold is worth is 50 gold pieces and a pound of silver is worth 50 silver pieces, and so on and so forth.
Bullion is usually traded in 5 pound bars worth 250 standard coins of their type.
Coins are sometimes chopped in half or quarters to make half coins or quarter coins. Sometimes smaller coins are minted which weigh a 1/100th of a pound or 1/200th of a pound respectively and officially. These are called ha'coins or quarter coins.
Most coins are stamped with the portrait of a king or queen on one side and a corresponding national coat of arms on opposite side. Coins are not valuable because they have a picture of a monarch stamped on them, they are valuable because they represent a known quantity of a precious metal. Essentially, the king or queen's potrait signifies that the monarch is ensuring that the weight and purity of this coin is within standard parameters. And it is implied that those that try to fraudulently use the king or queen's standards face the monarch's wrath.
Defrauding somone with a devalued coin is a serious offense. Most coins are ridged to prevent coin shaving and most merchants won't accept a coin without ridges or they will break out a scale to verify a coin's weight.
In modern days, American coins were ridged to help blind people since a dime and a penny are roughly the same size and weight (dimes are ridged, pennies are not) and nickels and quarters are similarly sized and weighted but quarters are ridged and nickels are not. The United States never did anything like that for paper money but other nations have.
It is rough being blind in Scarterra but because copper, silver, and gold all weight the same but are made of different materials of differing density so blind people can tell the difference between coins by size and feel.
In terms of value
ten copper pieces equal a silver piece Ten silver pieces equal a gold piece Five gold pieces equal a platinum piece.History
Phidas gave mortals the concept of currency as his Gift to mortals.
During the First Age, most currencies were based on precious metals, specifically. Gold, silver, and Platinum. Currency denominations and forms varied a lot from nation to nation.
During the Second Age, the Keepers and the Masks worked together to create a standard system of weights and measures to standardized coinage. By the end of the Second Age, nearly every elf nations had adopted the standard exchange rate.
Execution
Most Scarterran commoners deal primarily in copper pieces for day-to-day transactions with silver pieces use for major purchases. Most upper class Scarterrans deal primarily in silver pieces for day-to-day transactions and use gold for major purchases.
Platinum is normally only traded in the form of coins near platinum mines. Most platinum gets turns into high end jewelry or magical items fairly quickly.
Wages seldom drop below 2 copper pieces a day because this is roughly the bare minimum it takes to sustain an adult with food and shelter though many Scarterran jobs include food and shelter as their primary if not sole means of being paid.
The article "How much money do Scarterrans make?" covers wage norms in great detail.
Cost of Living at different lifestyles covers living expenses at different social classes in great detail.
Expenses of landed nobles covers how Scarterra's elite spend their money.
Components and tools
"Faerie gold" is worthless objects enchanted to temporarily resemble gold or silver coins. The weakness to Faerie gold is well known in that it reverts to its true form when exposed to wrought iron so most merchants have an cold iron ingot on hand with their money box.
Most merchants have scales both to weigh coins to check for tampering and to weigh goods being bought and sold. Some travelers and traders bring their own merchant scales with them to make sure merchants aren't cheating them.
Some jokingly call merchants "ambushers" because they are frequently "lying in weight"
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