Economics
In theory, almost all of Christian Europe is on a silver-based coinage system. One pound of silver is divided into 240 pennies, each of which is one day’s wages for a peasant working in the fields. This system was devised under Charlemagne, when vast tracts of Europe were briefly united under the Holy Roman Empire. It has persisted, even after Charlemagne’s domain broke up.
In practice, there is almost no metal coinage in circulation. Europe is metal-poor; almost no mining goes on, for precious or base metals. What few precious metals Europe has are used for international trade. Europe produces very little that is desirable to the “civilized” world. Aside from furs and a handful of other goods, the only thing Europe has that is of interest to their Moslem trading partners is precious metals.
The vast majority of payments are in-kind. Debts are paid with eggs, grain, chicken, clothes, etc. Even kings receive most of their income in-kind!
Where there are coins, they are made of silver. Usually, they are quite thin, frequently struck on only one side. Their edges are unfinished. The point of coinage is to validate a coin as being of a particular weight. Merchants are still likely to weigh coins in any quantity.
Gold coins are not minted in Christian Europe. Where they are found, they are either leftovers from Roman times, or imports from the Roman (i.e., Byzantine) Empire or the Moslem world. Gold coins have no denomination, so they are weighed to determine value.
In 1007, wealth comes from land, and land is controlled by nobles. A prosperous merchant may seem wealthy to the poor, but even the richest guildmaster’s wealth pales beside that of an average landed baron.
The money system in the FW rules does not really reflect the realities of money in 1007. It was intended to be a generic coinage system that could be applied anywhere from ca. 500 AD to 1471 AD. Instead, it manages to be inaccurate for all of that time period.