Laremere wrote:I think custom types of coins are required, as 100 coins would basically have the same value as the bar it was made out of, so why then would you use coins?
Increased divisibility, of course. No one would trade a steel bar for a full quiver of arrows. No one would trade a steel bar for 60 full quivers (simply because no one needs that many, and because storage has a cost in itself). The market, also, is probably not predictable enough yet to allow for the kind of long term investment that 60 full quivers would be. One steel coin, one hundredth of a steel bar, on the other hand, might be a reasonable price for one full quiver.
Laremere wrote:If leaders made coins, then they could set the value of the coins
What unit do you propose they set the "value" in?
Coins are a measure of value and, as such, cannot have a value in anything other than themselves. One coin is worth itself. Plain and simple. I think what you mean is "set the
denomination on the coins", which is quite something else.
Laremere wrote:If they make lots of coins, they may for a short time be "richer" as they could buy a bunch of stuff, but on the other hand they soon run into problems of inflation...
Debased currencies!? Some evils should be kept out, even of computer games.
(I might consider it, as an interesting economic experiment, if nothing else. But I'm going to hate myself every step of the way. Long live the gold standard.)