History Main / GoldSilverCopperStandard

* ''VideoGame/LordOfTheRingsOnline'' also uses gold, silver, and copper coins, almost exactly like World of Warcraft, except 1 gold coin is equal to 1,000 silver coins. Silver to copper is still 1:100. Players also have alternate currency received from skirmishes called marks, medallions, seals, etc., which can only be traded to skirmish vendors.

When the money is called something other than [metal] piece or [metal] coin, it's also a FictionalCurrency. TastyGold is related, for checking the purity of the gold coins. HearMeTheMoney is historically used to test silver coins. Often a GlobalCurrency, which is [[JustifiedTrope understandable]], as the value in the coins comes from the precious metal itself. For settings that skip copper and silver to jump straight to gold, see CheapGoldCoins.

* The fixed exchange rate of ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' is justified in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12451409/1/The-Hero-Melromarc-Needs-and-Deserves The Hero Melromarc Needs and Deserves]]'', where Deathmask deduces it's the result of a monetary union between Melromarc and one or more other countries. He also alludes to the problems with a fixed exchange rate when he hopes it won't have the same issues as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Monetary_Union Latin Monetary Union]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Overlord|2012}}'', being based on ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', uses the same set of 1 Platinum coin being worth 10 Gold coins, 100 Silver coins or 1000 Copper coins.
* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'' follows this pattern with a couple of variations. The first is the use of bronze instead of copper while the other, more significant is that each metal has multiple coin sizes with ten of one coin equalling one of the next size up. So 10 small bronze = 1 medium bronze, 10 medium bronze = 1 large bronze and 10 large bronze = 1 small silver and so on. All these are denominated in a fictional currency unit called the lyon and it's possible there are even smaller coins as well since one small bronze coin is worth 10 lyon and prices are shown at rates like 23 lyon.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' of all games uses this, where Gold coins are worth 1, Silver coins are 1/2, while Copper coins are 1/10.

* ''LightNovel/SpiceAndWolf'' has far too many currency systems to even remember, and while their values are based on gold and silver content, the trust that the traders give to the coin is more important. A tiny shift in precious metal content can lead to huge shift in value; very much like it used to be in real life, in fact.

A popular convention for fictional works stuck in MedievalStasis or otherwise "primitive" settings is to have money handled by the exchange of precious metals. In most of these cases, there will be different denominations of coins differentiated entirely by what metal they're made out of. Usually this takes the form of the Olympic metals -- gold as the highest, silver second, and bronze last (though in coinage, copper is used instead of bronze more often than not). Sometimes [[RankInflation more valuable metals are added]] above gold -- commonly [[PlatinumMakesEverythingShinier platinum]].[[Note]]Platinum coins were uncommon in real life, due to it being less malleable/ductile than silver, which made it difficult to work into currency. The only notable attempts were in the modern era: Spain made some in colonial Latin America in the 1700s, and Russia made platinum coins in the 1800s. Several other ''commemorative'' coins have been made using platinum into the 20th century. Still, ''no ancient or medieval civilizations'' ever used platinum coins, due to the technical complexity of minting it.[[/note]]

A popular convention for fictional works stuck in MedievalStasis or otherwise "primitive" settings is to have money handled by the exchange of precious metals. In most of these cases, there will be different denominations of coins differentiated entirely by what metal they're made out of. Usually this takes the form of the Olympic metals -- gold as the highest, silver second, and bronze last (though in coinage, copper is used instead of bronze more often than not). Sometimes [[RankInflation more valuable metals are added]] above gold -- commonly [[PlatinumMakesEverythingShinier platinum]].

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'' follows this pattern with a couple of variations. The first is the use of bronze instead of copper while the other, more significant is that each metal has multiple coin sizes with ten of one coin equalling one of the next size up. So 10 small bronze = 1 medium bronze, 10 medium bronze = 1 large bronze and 10 large bronze = 1 small silver and so on. All these are denominated in a fictional currency unit called the lyon and it's possible there are even smaller coins as well since one small bronze coin is worth 10 lyon and prices are shown at rates like 23 lyon.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': The isolationist, Wano Country, uses this trope as their currency system. The only difference is that Silver is used as the lowest rather than copper which isn't used at all, and Platinum is used as the highest.

When using the Gold–Silver–Copper Standard, expect each denomination to be worth either 10 or 100 times the previous one. This is generally an AcceptableBreakFromReality, as very few people would be interested in doing realistic calculations of "exchange rates" between coins, [[WritersCannotDoMath especially writers]]. In video games, collecting enough coins of a lower denomination will cause them to somehow combine instantly: your purse with 99 bronze coins will suddenly contain only a single silver coin the instant you pick up one more bronze coin. Conversely, a higher-value coin can easily be turned into multiple coins of a lower denomination.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' uses bulk silver as official currency; one unit of silver is represented as "$1", as in, one 16th century New Spaniard peso made with one ounce troy of silver[[note]]the $ is believed to be a deformation of "PS"; it was adopted as the US dollar symbol, because the New Spaniard peso was legal tender in British America[[/note]]. More expensive commodities such as gold or jade are available, but they are not universally accepted and therefore are not considered money; when the game calculates the money value of something, it's always in terms of silver.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' uses gold, silver, and bronze coins as money in the wizarding world; they're called [[FictionalCurrency galleons, sickles, and knuts]], respectively. Their relative values are not decimalized, but rather have 17 sickles to the galleon and 29 knuts to the sickle, presumably to make their system similar to the [[UsefulNotes/OldBritishMoney pre-decimalized British currency]] (or perhaps as another way of making the wizarding world whimsical/whacky). Given that the exchange rate is one Galleon to about five pounds it's probable that they aren't made out of actual gold or silver.

** These days, copper tends to be worthless in inter-player currency exchanges, while Silver tends to be treated the same way pennies (or similar currency) would be in real life. In the vanilla game, one Gold was a non-trivial amount of money and gathering several hundred of these for an epic mount could take months. Today, quest rewards and selling VendorTrash at maximum level give 20-50 gold at a time, and many players have accumulated hundreds of thousands of gold.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' uses bulk silver as official currency; one unit of silver is implied to be one ounce troy, represented with the symbol of the silver ounce coin of 16th century Spain known as "peso", which is $ [[note]]the $ is believed to be a deformation of "PS"; it was adopted as the US dollar symbol, because the New Spaniard peso was legal tender in British America[[/note]]. More expensive commodities such as gold or jade are available, but they are not universally accepted and therefore are not considered money; when the game calculates the money value of something, it's always in terms of silver.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' uses bulk silver as official currency; one unit of silver is implied to be one ounce troy, represented with the symbol of a certain 16th century Spanish silver ounce coin known as "peso", which is $ [[note]]the New Spaniard peso was legal tender in British America, which is why the United States adopted the $ as the symbol of the US dollar[[/note]]. More expensive commodities such as gold or jade are available, but they are not universally accepted and therefore are not considered money; when the game calculates the money value of something, it's always in terms of silver.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' uses bulk silver as official currency; one unit of silver is implied to be one ounce troy, represented with the symbol of the 16th century Spanish silver coin known as "peso", which is $ [[note]]the New Spaniard peso was legal tender in British America, which is why the United States adopted the $ as the symbol of the US dollar[[/note]]. More expensive commodities such as gold or jade are available, but they are not universally accepted and therefore are not considered money; when the game calculates the money value of something, it's always in terms of silver.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' uses bulk silver as official currency, represented with the symbol of the 16th century Spanish silver coin known as "peso", which is $ [[note]]the New Spaniard peso was legal tender in British America, which is why the United States adopted the $ as the symbol of the US dollar[[/note]]. More expensive commodities such as gold or jade are available, but they are not universally accepted and therefore are not considered money; when the game calculates the money value of something, it's always in terms of silver.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' uses bulk silver as official currency, represented with the IRL symbol of the old New Spaniard silver ounce coin known as "peso", which is $ [[note]]the New Spaniard peso was legal tender in British America, which is why the United States adopted the $ as the symbol of the US dollar[[/note]]. More expensive commodities such as gold or jade are available, but they are not universally accepted and therefore are not considered money; when the game calculates the money value of something, it's always in terms of silver.

* Deconstructed in ''FanFic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', where Harry realizes that with a fixed exchange rate of Sickles to Galleons, any enterprising wizard could use the relatively volatile Muggle market for arbitrage.

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* ''Series/TheMagicians2016'': Gold pieces are a currency in Fillory. The show doesn't go into much detail, so it's not clear if [[WorthlessYellowRocks gold is much more common there]] or if the team just keeps trying to buy expensive things, but either way they never have any money on hand. Because Fillory is a magical land, people will accept barter in other forms like magical promises or vials of blood, but only the desperate accept such deals.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' is the TropeCodifier in modern media; coins from most valuable to least are platinum, gold, silver, and copper at a ratio of 10:1. Previous editions had outliers (electrum, a gold/silver alloy, at half a gold each) and at least one non-decimal exchange rate (5 gold to 1 platinum, 20 silver to 1 gold in 1st Edition, 5 copper to 1 silver in pre-1st-Edition Basic D&D), but these have been done away with over the years.

* ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'' has ten copper “zeni” to the silver “bu”, which in theory is redeemable for a bushel of rice from the clan that minted it. A gold “koku”, worth five bu, can feed a man for a year.

* ''Roleplay/FenQuest'': The Northern Empire uses such denominations with exchange rates oscillating between 4.5 and 5 coppers to a silver, and between 36 and 40 silvers to a gold coin. Oh the other hand, a mithril coin has a fixed value of 1000 gold coins (which seems to imply imperial authorities have a monopoly mining and minting mithril) and the military internally uses fixed exchange rates with a preference for nice round numbers.\\
Peasants and unskilled laborer earn (an spend) a single copper a day (skilled laborers get two and Lesser Knights four), which means the 80-gold bounty on Red Maw is ''forty years'' of a peasant's income.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' uses bulk silver as official currency, represented with the symbol of the old New Spaniard 1 oz silver coin known as "peso", which is $. [[note]]the New Spaniard peso was legal tender in British America, which is why the United States adopted the $ as the symbol of the US dollar[[/note]], and the implication that one unit of silver equals one silver coin. More expensive commodities such as gold or jade are available, but they are not universally accepted and therefore are not considered money; when the game calculates the money value of something, it's always in terms of silver.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' uses bulk silver as official currency, represented with a dollar symbol[[note]]this has roots in the old New Spaniard peso, which equaled one ounce of silver; the $ symbol is believed to be a deformation of "PS"; thus, it makes sense to represent one ounce of silver as "$1"[[/note]], and the implication that one unit of silver equals one silver coin. More expensive commodities such as gold or jade are available, but they are not universally accepted and therefore are not considered money; when the game calculates the money value of something, it's always in terms of silver.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' uses bulk silver as official currency, represented with a dollar symbol[[note]]this has roots in the old New Spaniard peso, which equaled one ounce of silver; the $ symbol is believed to be a deformation of "PS"[[/note]], and the implication that one unit of silver equals one silver coin. More expensive commodities such as gold or jade are available, but they are not universally accepted and therefore are not considered money; when the game calculates the money value of something, it's always in terms of silver.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' uses bulk silver as official currency, represented with a dollar symbol[[note]]this has roots in the old New Spaniard peso, which equaled one ounce of silver; the $ symbol is believed to be a deformation of "PS"[[/note], and the implication that one unit of silver equals one silver coin. More expensive commodities such as gold or jade are available, but they are not universally accepted and therefore are not considered money; when the game calculates the money value of something, it's always in terms of silver.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'' uses bulk silver as official currency, represented with a dollar symbol, and the implication that one unit of silver equals one silver coin. More expensive commodities such as gold or jade are available, but they are not universally accepted and therefore are not considered money; when the game calculates the money value of something, it's always in terms of silver.