Why isn't gold used as a currency in Krynn?

Question

For some reason in Krynn steel is valued greater than gold. This seems odd since steel is more common (and more practical), whereas gold is rare. Steel has the disadvantage of being susceptible to corression and easier to find. What caused the people to turn away from gold as a reliable monetary standard?

Answer 1

According to a few sites containing documentation on the Dragonlance RPG, so set in the same world as the books, the reason for steel is because its relative usefulness has restricted the supply of it. You value your weapons and armour a lot more when you know it's worth its weight in... err... steel.

The world of Krynn, however, uses steel as the base currency, with gold down near the bottom in value. The reason for this is tied up in the history of the world, when steel became very rare after most of the alloy was used to make arms and armor.

Source

Given the frequent invasions and wars, having an intrinsically valuable currency can make sense because if all else fails, you can always stab someone with it.

Answer 2

After the Cataclysm, steel's value increased exponentially for practical reasons.

During the Age of Might, silver and gold were the common metals that denoted richness: I (vaguely) remember the description, in the Legend of the Twins trilogy, of the city of Istar and of its inhabitants, whom general level of wealth was very high. In this webpage one can read

Istar was a huge city, built almost entirely of crystal, alabaster, and gold.

and the other references in that webpage point to other official products (novels, adventures) that confirm this.

In the most recent official Dragonlance product Shadow of the Dragon Queen one can read, at page 10, under the Currency section the reason why steel (and bronze) coins have been used so far:

Since the Cataclysm, the harsh realities of daily survival leave little room for impracticality. For years after the devastation, steel's value skyrocketed until it was valued as high as gold, thanks to the difficulty of forging steel and its obvious practical applications. Similarly, bronze was valued on par with silver. While the value of steel and bronze has diminished to pre-Cataclysm standards, trade coins of bronze and steel remain in use across Ansalon.

Answer 3

I assume it's because it's easier to make weapons and armor with your money when you need to. So wealth = liquid military power. You won't invade a country with 10,000 steel because they can use that steel to make arms and armor easily.

Answer 4

Two reasons for this:

1. Steel has practical value. It can be used to make weapons and armor, which are essential to survival after the Cataclysm.
2. Because of the Cataclysm, many veins of gold that were previously inaccessible became easy to mine. Because gold became more commonplace, its value dropped.

However, if good steel is now currency, it can't be used for armor and weapons. We always assumed there were 2 grades of steel: "noble" ore and "common." The "common" ore is filled with impurities, and has the same capabilities as bronze, Whereas "Noble" ore is true, good steel enjoyed by every other game world. However, it is too valuable to be used as weapons and armor. A weapon made of noble ore would cost its weight in steel. So, a longsword made of this should cost 200 Stl.