The primary coin of The Village is the copper piece.

The primary coin of The Village is the copper piece. Silver pieces are treated with respect, and there's simply not enough liquid capital for gold pieces to flow well. Platinum is right out. A copper piece might buy a meal, or a night's stay in a barn alongside the animals.

Before inflation, a single silver, or a handful of copper, might buy:
-- cheap communal room and board. You won't starve.
-- a chat with the barkeep about what you've seen. Lose 1 Witness.
-- A night alone, with or without strong drink. Lose 1 Exhaustion.
-- Bandages, applied inexpertly. Lose 1 Harm.

Before inflation, a purseful of copper, a handful of silver, or a single gold, might buy:
-- Everything on the smallest list
-- bronze sword. Use up to give 1 more attempt in a dungeon
-- Leather jerkin. Use up to ignore 1 harm
-- Cheap, wooden holy symbol. Use up to ignore 1 Witness
-- Skin of water. Use up (by drinking) to ignore 1 exhaustion

If you've got a handful of gold, you can probably buy all these things.

After you've spent about a purse worth of silver, expect the local polity to want their fare share. Taxes, in other words.

If you manage to spend a backpack worth of silver, The Village has enough wealth to have inflation. All prices increase; what used to cost one now costs a handful; handful to purse; purse to backpack; backpack to trunk.

At this rate, it won't be long until you spend a trunk full of silver, at which point the Village has attracted enough people pursuing wealth to become a Town.

The primary coin of The Town is the silver piece. Gold pieces are treated with respect, and there's simply not enough liquid capital for platinum pieces to flow well. Astral Diamonds are right out. A silver piece might buy a meal, or a night's stay in poor accommodations.

* But, William, how much is a backpack of silver or whatever worth?

Here's the breakdown.
The sizes increase one, handful, purse, backpack, trunk.
Copper values: 1, 5, 25, 100, 500. That is, a trunk of copper is value 500.
Silver values: 5, 25, 100, 500, 2,500. That is, a trunk of silver s value 2,500
Gold values: 25, 100, 500, 2,500, 10,000. That is, a trunk of gold is value 10,000.
Platinum: 100, 500, 2,500, 10,000, 50,000. That is, a trunk of platinum is value 50,000. But, let's max that out at 10,000 because omg these numbers are too large.

But, William, those don't increase in step! It's inconsistent!
Yep, and a smart bookie could probably take all my money. Except there's not a lot of money changers in this, and the player characters are essentially mining, and using the money to buy better equipment.

Wait, is this fun?
I dunno yet. I think it might be.