This just reminds me how massive of an effect the institution of banking and letters of credit can have on a campaign. Even assuming all regions in a campaign accept the same coinage, what an absolute pain it must be to cart around these amounts of gold once you get to high levels.
Now the concept of investing in gems and converting cash to "denser" assets makes a lot of sense. 50gp = 1 pound, or one really neat gem that weighs a tenth of that. Sure, it's easier to lose and harder to convert (few merchants will make change for a diamond in most campaigns unless they're also running a jewelry shop) but for logistics alone it's useful.
I like how in Eberron, you have House Kundarak and House Sivis working together to establish a cross-continent banking system based on gold storage and unforgeable letters of credit. But in a campaign without banking, it's got to be a huge pain in the tuchus to cart around that 4,000gp for the local mage to make that masterwork sword of yours into an enchanted weapon.
Now the concept of investing in gems and converting cash to "denser" assets makes a lot of sense. 50gp = 1 pound, or one really neat gem that weighs a tenth of that. Sure, it's easier to lose and harder to convert (few merchants will make change for a diamond in most campaigns unless they're also running a jewelry shop) but for logistics alone it's useful.
I like how in Eberron, you have House Kundarak and House Sivis working together to establish a cross-continent banking system based on gold storage and unforgeable letters of credit. But in a campaign without banking, it's got to be a huge pain in the tuchus to cart around that 4,000gp for the local mage to make that masterwork sword of yours into an enchanted weapon.