History Main / PracticalCurrency

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* In ''Webcomic/EscapeFromTerra'' the primary medium of exchange on Ceres is grams of gold but water certificates, cokens (issued by the local Coca-cola bottling plant) and Grubstake Units are also mentioned. [[http://www.bigheadpress.com/eft?page=25]]
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** People would also often receive small change in matchboxes at some stores.

* Iron in SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/SeekersOfTheSky'', made so because of its rarity (ItMakesSenseInContext). A character even mentions using gold for currency, only for another character to say that, while gold is valuable, it doesn't have a lot of use. Of course, you better keep all your iron bars in a dry environment.

* Another Sanderson example, from Literature/TheStormlightArchive: The currency is ''spheres,'' tiny chips of gemstones encased in marble-sized glass balls. But they're not valuable because they're gemstones, but because the gemstones can act as magical foci for various things, particularly ''Soulcasting'' (transmutation magic.) Diamonds are the least valuable, because they have the least useful Soulcasting property, whereas emeralds, which can be used to turn stones into food, are the most valuable denomination.

* In Series/{{Jeremiah}}s post-apocalyptic world canned food is used as the main currency.

* In the {{VideoGame/Fallout}} series, bottlecaps are normally WeirdCurrency instead, but in games where you can craft bottlecap mines... In addition, VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas gives you the crafting recipe for filling a shotshell with silver coins, courtesy of Caesar's Legion.

* During parts of history rum has been used a currency in Europe and Australia. The [[UsefulNotes/AustralianStatesAndTerritories New South Wales]] Corps one of the first european military forces was also known as the Rum Corps because of them using it as currency as there wasn't a feasible alternative and when William Bligh (of Bounty [[TheMutiny mutiny]] fame) tried to restrict the trade it led ebellion suitably called the Rum Rebellion.

* During parts of history rum has been used a currency in Europe and Australia. The [[UsefulNotes/AustralianStatesAndTerritories New South Wales]] Corps one of the first european military forces was also known as the Rum Corps because and when William Bligh (of Bounty [[TheMutiny mutiny]] fame) tried to restrict the trade it led to rebellion suitably called the Rum Rebellion.

* In the {{VideoGame/Fallout}} series, bottlecaps are normally WeirdCurrency instead, but in games where you can craft bottlecap mines...in addition, VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas gives you the crafting recipe for filling a shotshell with silver coins, courtesy of Caesar's Legion.

* Zigzagged in the player economy of VideoGame/TeamFortress2. The main currencies are various hats, specifically rare and/or limited-edition ones, such as the Earbuds (only released during the week or so when Team Fortress 2 was released for Apple computers) or Bill's Hat (a promotional item for the Left 4 Dead series). These are completely cosmetic, but are used as a form of "currency" when bartering doesn't quite work out. A straight version of this trope is Scrap Metal, which can be used to craft almost any weapon in the game.

Normally, your money is not inherently useful. Sure, you can melt down coins and make them into some sort of art project, or you can try to use your paper money to start a fire, but for the most part, money only has value because people agree that it does. The moment people lose faith in it, money will be worth nothing.

Not so with '''Practical Currency'''. You can actually use it for something. Maybe it's some kind of food, medicine, or weaponry. It's not too different from a barter economy--it's still goods in exchange for goods and services--but unlike barter, it also serves as a universal medium of exchange (people who don't need the item itself will still accept it because they can trade it for something else) and a universal measure of an item's value.

In the real world, there is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_money commodity money]]. Not all commodity money is practical currency, however: gold, for example, until very recent times has very few not entirely decorative uses -- mostly, tableware -- but made good commodity money because it is pretty (easy to tell what it is - to the uninitiated, silver, aluminum, and iron all look similar at first glance), rare (but not too rare), divisible (hard to make change with one cow), and does not corrode.

* ''KingdomOfLoathing'' is some kind of an example, since its currency is Meat. [[SubvertedTrope You can't eat it,]] [[DoubleSubversion but you can make "meat paste" to combine items, and smith the Meat into weapons and armor.]]

In the real world, there is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_money commodity money]]. Not all commodity money is practical currency, however: gold, for example, until very recent times has very few not entirely decorative uses -- mostly, tableware -- but made good commodity money because it is pretty, rare (but not too rare), divisible (hard to make change with one cow), and does not corrode.

* In ''Hex'', the [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] [[RecycledInSPACE re-skin]] of ''JonahHex'', the standard currency are Soames: pills used to decontaminate radioactive water.

* Some countries use ''cell phone minutes'' as currency.

In the real world, there is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_money commodity money]]. Not all commodity money is practical currency, however: gold, for example, until very recent times has very few not entirely decorative uses -- mostly, tableware -- but made good commodity money because it is pretty, rare (but not too rare), and does not corrode.

* Water in ''TankGirl''

* In ''{{Bone}}'', residents of the valley use things like eggs and livestock as currency. Phoney finds this out when he tries to spend Boneville dollars and gets some very dirty looks.

* ''KingdomOfLoathing'' is some kind of an example, since its currency is Meat. [[SubvertedTrope However, since it's currency, you can't actually eat it.]] [[DoubleSubversion However, you can make that Meat into paste to combine items with and into stacks to smith equipment out of.]]

* In GordonRDickson's ''ChildeCycle'', the interstellar currency is largely based on skilled professionals. If a planet needs someone or something, they hire out a specialist in exchange. The economy of the ''Fourteen Worlds'' is based on the trade of contracts, which not only affects political decisions, but also drives the plot of several stories.

* Water on Dune itself and Spice everywhere else in ''{{Dune}}''.
* In the ''{{Uglies}}'' trilogy, "The Smoke" community uses instant food packs as currency, which makes [[TheMole newcomer Tally]] quite wealthy by the community's standards.
* Iron in SergeyLukyanenko's ''SeekersOfTheSky'', made so because of its rarity (ItMakesSenseInContext). A character even mentions using gold for currency, only for another character to say that, while gold is valuable, it doesn't have a lot of use. Of course, you better keep all your iron bars in a dry environment.

* ''{{Metro 2033}}'' (and video game) - ammo is used as money everywhere, meaning your [[AbnormalAmmo guns shoot money]]. In the game, only pre-War bullets (high quality military rounds) are used as currency, though one can exchange "Metro" rounds (low quality, recycled ammunition) for military rounds.

* ''{{Battletech}}:'' Comstar's currency, the C-Bill, is based upon a fixed amount of transmission time on the organisation's [[SubspaceAnsible Hyper Pulse Generators]]. The exact amount seems to fluctuate.

* ''VideoGame/{{Metro 2033}}'' uses pre-apocalyptic, military-grade 5.45mm rounds as currency. When fired from a normal rifle[[note]]read: "not the Bastard"[[/note]], the damage they deal is ''enormous'' compared to the ammo the Metro produces.

* ''{{Metro 2033}}'' (and video game) - ammo is used as money everywhere