This chart itself exposes the flaw: 2 iron = 1 steel. That means any blacksmith could melt iron coins, forge steel, and instantly double their money. Within weeks, arbitrage would collapse the economy.
2. The Melt-Value Paradox A longsword costs ~20 steel pieces. At D&D coin weight, that’s 0.4 lb of coin metal. But a longsword weighs ~4 lb. So the smith is selling 4 lb of steel for the price of 0.4 lb. Either he goes bankrupt, or everyone melts coins for stock. That’s not a quirk — that’s system-breaking.
3. Steel-Making is Primitive Steel is not rare. If you can forge iron, you can make steel. The Japanese tatara method has been around for centuries: - Collect river iron sand. - Burn charcoal in a clay furnace. - Slowly heat the iron with carbon infusion. - Drain off the slag. That’s it. Steel is a primitive technology. Pretending it’s a precious rarity after the Cataclysm is nonsense. Every village forge could do it.
4. Why Steel is the Worst Money Real coins succeed because they are: - Rare - Inert (don’t rust or tarnish) - Useless industrially (so they won’t be melted)
Steel is the opposite: - Common - Corrosive - Highly useful for tools and weapons
Using steel as currency is as absurd as using water. Everyone needs it, everyone can make it, and it’s constantly consumed.
5. The Only Way It Works The only way the “steel piece” makes sense is if it’s fiat currency — its value comes from the stamp, not the metal. But then you need an anchor, and like every other world, that anchor is gold. Without fiat, the system collapses in weeks.
Conclusion
Weis and Hickman wanted symbolism: “steel is survival, gold is vanity.”But symbolism isn’t economics. The steel piece economy, as written, is impossible. It either: 1. Collapses immediately (arbitrage + melt-value paradox). 2. Or it’s fiat currency backed by gold, which the books never admit.
Either way, the “steel economy” is not a functional system. It’s a narrative gimmick, and one that doesn’t survive a moment of scrutiny using its own rules and logic, i am not even going deep into economics on this one, I could go into detail why in a medieval world fiat currency is not possible. Keeping it simple, its not possible. We could just say steel is the name of the coin as in a pound sterling is no longer 320g or 1 tower pound of silver even by the 1500's in England. As per the great debasement in 1540's the content of silver in the coins was diminished. The issue with that is DND campagn's are not equipped to deal with the economic issues you see with diluting the value of currency and the notion of fiat. The only solution i see is iron is not a coin, just throw that out as you can't keep a coin that has other uses as in being a frying pan. Then the economy would collapse because the coin's content has practical uses, its the same reason you can't make a economy based on water jugs as currency liquidity is required to ensure commerce flows and we can't have people drinking money.
In dragonlace steel coins are just gold, they call them steel because of an ironic cultural quirk, thats the simplest fix. Or find another metal on the periodic table which is limited that people just call steel and that causes issues. Dragonlace economics is based on pure nonsense.
It's a D&D economy, of course it's broken. At least 2024 seems to have done away with the trade goods table so we don't have to deal with nonsense like a pound of flour and a chicken being the same price.
But you can’t have players getting rich by turning iron coins into steel. That’s an instant problem — it fails the most basic logic check.
If you go hardcore Dragonlance you could say steel is its own element, inert and on the periodic table, but then it’s just another magical metal like mithril. That still collapses under arbitrage and the melt-value paradox.
The only fix is a hard retcon: steel coins are actually gold coins, silver-plated to look steely, called “steel” by cultural quirk. Simple, consistent, and it preserves the flavor without breaking the world.
But you can’t have players getting rich by turning iron coins into steel. That’s an instant problem — it fails the most basic logic check.
Sure they can. They get to use the crafting rules -- spend a day in the forge and you can convert 10 iron coins (worth 5) into 10 steel coins (worth 10).
I'm not saying that using steel coins isn't nonsense -- it is. I'm saying that nonsense economics are standard for D&D. My personal recommendation is to just ignore the entire concept and use gold coins, the steel economy isn't adding anything to the game, but it's entirely possible to deal with.
Steel coinage does exist in the real world and has historically. Yes, there are problems with it, but the fact it has been successfully employed by real world cultures show that you are blowing those problems a bit out of proportion.
If you really, desperately want a real world explanation for the steel coinage and how to make it difficult to counterfeit, that also is not really that difficult given the variable nature of steel and its properties. Steel is an alloy with variable density based upon various factors such as carbon content or the inclusion of heavier metals in the alloy. If you really are stuck on the realism element, there is a simple solution - official coinage holds a standard and unique density resultant from carefully guarded state secrets. This steel is more dense than standard blacksmith steel, indicating the presence of denser metals in the alloy, but what that admixture might be is a state secret (and could be something like Adamantine, that would be beyond the working capability of an average forge). Because steel coins have a higher density than can be produced by the average smith, and because getting the density mixture on steel can be difficult, a standard, higher-than-average density would result in coinage that is harder to counterfeit.
You could further add to the unique element of the steel coins by going beyond simple metallurgy and looking at the production process itself. Various ways of preparing steel leave their mark on the final product - famously Damascus steel both shows that steel can contain different patterns based on its forging process, and that certain steel techniques can be kept generally insular (the secrets of true Damascus steel, for example, have been lost to time). Coinage with specific patterns made using a secretive process would add another element preventing counterfeiting.
Turning iron into steel is not an inexpensive process, at least in the real world. Even a tatara uses a 10 to 10 to 2 ration. 10 of iron, 10 of charcoal producing 2 of steel and about 3 days of constant work with a minimize size to be even close to economically feasible. So converting iron coins to steel coins would be a major loss economically.
If the crafting rule that Panatagruel666 references is correct, then its its lack of reality makes the economics nonsense.
If the crafting rule that Panatagruel666 references is correct, then its its lack of reality makes the economics nonsense.
The crafting rule I reference is the generic crafting rule in 2024: crafting an item requires 1 day per 10 gp of value and raw materials equal to half the value of the finished product (2014 took twice as long; not sure why the change).
You also missed the point, they convert iron to steel anyway, this is something this world does, the issue is coins being the source of iron. I also think your a little off on your figures but the paradox involved is unaffected by your logic either way.
Steel coinage does exist in the real world and has historically. Yes, there are problems with it, but the fact it has been successfully employed by real world cultures show that you are blowing those problems a bit out of proportion.
If you really, desperately want a real world explanation for the steel coinage and how to make it difficult to counterfeit, that also is not really that difficult given the variable nature of steel and its properties. Steel is an alloy with variable density based upon various factors such as carbon content or the inclusion of heavier metals in the alloy. If you really are stuck on the realism element, there is a simple solution - official coinage holds a standard and unique density resultant from carefully guarded state secrets. This steel is more dense than standard blacksmith steel, indicating the presence of denser metals in the alloy, but what that admixture might be is a state secret (and could be something like Adamantine, that would be beyond the working capability of an average forge). Because steel coins have a higher density than can be produced by the average smith, and because getting the density mixture on steel can be difficult, a standard, higher-than-average density would result in coinage that is harder to counterfeit.
You could further add to the unique element of the steel coins by going beyond simple metallurgy and looking at the production process itself. Various ways of preparing steel leave their mark on the final product - famously Damascus steel both shows that steel can contain different patterns based on its forging process, and that certain steel techniques can be kept generally insular (the secrets of true Damascus steel, for example, have been lost to time). Coinage with specific patterns made using a secretive process would add another element preventing counterfeiting.
This is not a particularly hard problem to solve.
Steel coinage has existed historically, yes — but always in the same role as modern steel coins: as *low-value token currency*. Nobody based their entire monetary system on steel because it fails the basic commodity test. Steel is too useful, too corrosive, and too easy to produce. Historical examples actually reinforce the problem: they worked only because they were pegged to higher-value standards (silver/gold) or tightly controlled fiat.
Even if Krynn’s steel coins had a unique alloy, hidden density, or Damascus-style forging marks, that only addresses counterfeiting. It doesn’t stop the arbitrage and melt-value paradox. If the coin is the same raw material as weapons, cookware, or armor, the economy still collapses when raw demand outpaces face value. That’s why no historical system ever scaled with steel as its primary currency.
At the end of the day, symbolism isn’t economics. Dragonlance “steel” coins either have to be fiat tokens (stamped value, not material value), or a hard retcon: silver-plated gold called steel by cultural quirk. Both fixes keep the flavor while removing the contradictions. Without that, the system fails the most basic logic pass.
Man, I am usually the one arguing for realism, but unless you are running an economic simulation, this is a moot point. This is one of those times where you have to just accept the fact that it's a game. The game rules cannot possibly cover (realistically and accurately) every nuance of real life, nor should they try.
Seriously. If you have a player that sits down at your table and decides to start smelting coins and setting up a shop rather than adventuring, they are straight up playing the wrong game.
If you don't like the steel system, change it. Or do any of a number of things to correct the issue as you see it. Do I think it's worth the trouble to do any of that?
No. Not at all.
For the record, I agree with you. It's unrealistic. But there isn't much realism to be had in Dungeons & Dragons.
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Shawn D. Robertson
"Deride not the differing views of others, for it is in thoughtful and considerate conversation we find our greatest friends."
Do you have players that would actually rather spend their session talking about how they are sitting in town melting down coins? They’d rather do that then go fight some draconians? Explore a ruin in the plains of dust? Have a strategy meeting with the knights of solamnia?
This is only a problem in theory. You can just ignore it and let it be a game about adventuring instead of a crafting sim. The dice will roll just as well.
Lol, you could convert a metric ton in a day with little effort.
Not by the rules in D&D. If the DM decides to suspend the rules, that's on them. Also, for any reasonable definition of steel, no you can't. You don't get decent quality steel in large quantities before the industrial revolution. There are lots of realism problems with iron and steel as currency, but eliminating the gameplay problems isn't hard for the DM.
I don't think you grasped the paradox involved in commodity coinage, if you didn't glean the issue from what is said i don't think you ever will, but thanks for the effort to take the time to think about it.
I know I am missing something from what you said. 2 iron coins = 1 steel. So if you melt 2 iron coins, how do you make money? If you melt 1 iron coin, it does not become steel as it needs other metals and items. In addition, that forge needs to burn a lot of fuel due to the high heat needed to burn some ingredients and melt out impurities.
Ignoring the capital cost (forge itself), you need to have 1 iron coin, + other ingredients + fuel for the forge (consumable) + cost of labor. If ingredients +fuel+labor comes out to less than an Iron coin, yes you can make money via counterfeiting. But I doubt you would break the economy as the amount made would not be that much would it?
This was pointed out when Dragonlance first came out back in the mid 80's. When our DM forced our characters to go through a portal to Dragonlance, the first thing my Paladin did was have his full plate armor melted down, recast into coins, then repurchased another set of armor and pocketed a ton of coin.
And for those that don't know, Steel is made from iron and a tiny bit of carbon. Not exactly difficult, all you need is a forge that runs hot enough.
Lol, you could convert a metric ton in a day with little effort.
Not by the rules in D&D. If the DM decides to suspend the rules, that's on them. Also, for any reasonable definition of steel, no you can't. You don't get decent quality steel in large quantities before the industrial revolution. There are lots of realism problems with iron and steel as currency, but eliminating the gameplay problems isn't hard for the DM.
That’s the crux of it — by RAW, a longsword costs 20 steel pieces. By coin weight, that’s 0.4 lb of “steel” buying a 4 lb sword. Even if you cap production, the math breaks the world. This isn’t a realism nitpick, it’s a gameplay contradiction.
Historically, you’re right that high-quality steel in bulk came later, but even primitive bloomery and tatara methods could make usable steel from iron sand or ore. It doesn’t take industrialization to turn out pounds of it. Which means the “steel is precious” narrative collapses under its own premise.
Sure, a DM can handwave it — but that’s admitting it doesn’t stand on its own. If the writers wanted steel coins as a symbol, fine, but mechanically it only works as fiat. Otherwise it fails the most basic check: players will always try to arbitrage, and by the book they’d succeed.
I don't think you grasped the paradox involved in commodity coinage, if you didn't glean the issue from what is said i don't think you ever will, but thanks for the effort to take the time to think about it.
I know I am missing something from what you said. 2 iron coins = 1 steel. So if you melt 2 iron coins, how do you make money? If you melt 1 iron coin, it does not become steel as it needs other metals and items. In addition, that forge needs to burn a lot of fuel due to the high heat needed to burn some ingredients and melt out impurities.
Ignoring the capital cost (forge itself), you need to have 1 iron coin, + other ingredients + fuel for the forge (consumable) + cost of labor. If ingredients +fuel+labor comes out to less than an Iron coin, yes you can make money via counterfeiting. But I doubt you would break the economy as the amount made would not be that much would it?
You’re missing the economic principle, not the metallurgy. The official table says 2 iron coins = 1 steel coin. That creates an arbitrage loop whether you can literally melt them or not. If the rules tell players “iron coinage exists, steel coinage exists, and they trade at 2:1,” then by definition players will look for ways to convert. The system breaks at the design level, not the forge level.
Even if you handwave fuel, labor, and inefficiencies, the problem doesn’t go away: a coin cannot be both currency and a raw material without inviting arbitrage. That’s why real-world economies never used iron or steel as their primary standard — they’re too useful industrially. The gameplay issue isn’t counterfeiting, it’s that the rules themselves tell players “here’s free money” unless the DM blocks it. That’s not a narrative flourish, that’s a world-breaking flaw.
Sure, a DM can handwave it — but that’s admitting it doesn’t stand on its own. If the writers wanted steel coins as a symbol, fine, but mechanically it only works as fiat. Otherwise it fails the most basic check: players will always try to arbitrage, and by the book they’d succeed.
No, by the book they'd fail, because the only tool they have available to convert iron to steel is the crafting rules. The same for trying to melt your sword down into coins. You have to go beyond the book to actually break anything.
It's a dumb idea introduced as a way to make the setting look different way back in the 80s, but it's not exploitable in-game for the simple reason that the economic tools to exploit it don't exist in the game.
Sure, a DM can handwave it — but that’s admitting it doesn’t stand on its own. If the writers wanted steel coins as a symbol, fine, but mechanically it only works as fiat. Otherwise it fails the most basic check: players will always try to arbitrage, and by the book they’d succeed.
No, by the book they'd fail, because the only tool they have available to convert iron to steel is the crafting rules. The same for trying to melt your sword down into coins. You have to go beyond the book to actually break anything.
It's a dumb idea introduced as a way to make the setting look different way back in the 80s, but it's not exploitable in-game for the simple reason that the economic tools to exploit it don't exist in the game.
Thank you for making my point for me — the only reason it doesn’t collapse in play is because the rules conveniently leave out the tools to touch the economy at all. By RAW, players can’t mint coins, melt swords into currency, or arbitrage metals. But that’s not a “fix,” that’s just an omission. It works only because the game pretends the contradiction isn’t there.
The second you apply even the most basic real-world logic, the whole thing falls apart. A currency can’t be the same raw material as the goods it buys without running into melt-value and arbitrage loops.
So yes, it’s “safe” if you play strictly in the tiny box of the crafting rules — but that’s an admission that it’s broken outside the box. Which is why my solution is simple: retcon it. Steel coins are just gold coins with a cultural name. Clean, consistent, and no world-breaking contradictions the moment anyone asks a question the rules don’t cover.
Full disclosure: I’ve been DMing since the white box set, and in my games players can do whatever they want — I encourage agency. The 5e rules are a glaring mix of nonsense and logical absurdity, and I treat them as guidelines, not shackles. I’ve run entire campaigns for months where not a single creature died and everyone still had a blast. Over 40+ years I’ve had thousands of players happily play my tables. On top of that, I’ve worked in my government’s Treasury ministry. So for me, trying to ignore the economic contradictions here would be like a doctor pretending first aid rules don’t matter in-game. You just can’t unsee it.
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The Fatal Flaw of Krynn’s “Steel Piece” Economy
The Dragonlance “steel piece” system doesn’t just stretch credibility — it collapses under basic economic logic.
1. The Conversion Table (Official)
This chart itself exposes the flaw: 2 iron = 1 steel. That means any blacksmith could melt iron coins, forge steel, and instantly double their money. Within weeks, arbitrage would collapse the economy.
2. The Melt-Value Paradox
A longsword costs ~20 steel pieces. At D&D coin weight, that’s 0.4 lb of coin metal. But a longsword weighs ~4 lb. So the smith is selling 4 lb of steel for the price of 0.4 lb. Either he goes bankrupt, or everyone melts coins for stock. That’s not a quirk — that’s system-breaking.
3. Steel-Making is Primitive
Steel is not rare. If you can forge iron, you can make steel. The Japanese tatara method has been around for centuries:
- Collect river iron sand.
- Burn charcoal in a clay furnace.
- Slowly heat the iron with carbon infusion.
- Drain off the slag.
That’s it. Steel is a primitive technology. Pretending it’s a precious rarity after the Cataclysm is nonsense. Every village forge could do it.
4. Why Steel is the Worst Money
Real coins succeed because they are:
- Rare
- Inert (don’t rust or tarnish)
- Useless industrially (so they won’t be melted)
Steel is the opposite:
- Common
- Corrosive
- Highly useful for tools and weapons
Using steel as currency is as absurd as using water. Everyone needs it, everyone can make it, and it’s constantly consumed.
5. The Only Way It Works
The only way the “steel piece” makes sense is if it’s fiat currency — its value comes from the stamp, not the metal. But then you need an anchor, and like every other world, that anchor is gold. Without fiat, the system collapses in weeks.
Conclusion
Weis and Hickman wanted symbolism: “steel is survival, gold is vanity.”But symbolism isn’t economics. The steel piece economy, as written, is impossible. It either:
1. Collapses immediately (arbitrage + melt-value paradox).
2. Or it’s fiat currency backed by gold, which the books never admit.
Either way, the “steel economy” is not a functional system. It’s a narrative gimmick, and one that doesn’t survive a moment of scrutiny using its own rules and logic, i am not even going deep into economics on this one, I could go into detail why in a medieval world fiat currency is not possible. Keeping it simple, its not possible. We could just say steel is the name of the coin as in a pound sterling is no longer 320g or 1 tower pound of silver even by the 1500's in England. As per the great debasement in 1540's the content of silver in the coins was diminished. The issue with that is DND campagn's are not equipped to deal with the economic issues you see with diluting the value of currency and the notion of fiat. The only solution i see is iron is not a coin, just throw that out as you can't keep a coin that has other uses as in being a frying pan. Then the economy would collapse because the coin's content has practical uses, its the same reason you can't make a economy based on water jugs as currency liquidity is required to ensure commerce flows and we can't have people drinking money.
In dragonlace steel coins are just gold, they call them steel because of an ironic cultural quirk, thats the simplest fix. Or find another metal on the periodic table which is limited that people just call steel and that causes issues. Dragonlace economics is based on pure nonsense.
It's a D&D economy, of course it's broken. At least 2024 seems to have done away with the trade goods table so we don't have to deal with nonsense like a pound of flour and a chicken being the same price.
But you can’t have players getting rich by turning iron coins into steel. That’s an instant problem — it fails the most basic logic check.
If you go hardcore Dragonlance you could say steel is its own element, inert and on the periodic table, but then it’s just another magical metal like mithril. That still collapses under arbitrage and the melt-value paradox.
The only fix is a hard retcon: steel coins are actually gold coins, silver-plated to look steely, called “steel” by cultural quirk. Simple, consistent, and it preserves the flavor without breaking the world.
Sure they can. They get to use the crafting rules -- spend a day in the forge and you can convert 10 iron coins (worth 5) into 10 steel coins (worth 10).
I'm not saying that using steel coins isn't nonsense -- it is. I'm saying that nonsense economics are standard for D&D. My personal recommendation is to just ignore the entire concept and use gold coins, the steel economy isn't adding anything to the game, but it's entirely possible to deal with.
Turning iron into steel is not an inexpensive process, at least in the real world. Even a tatara uses a 10 to 10 to 2 ration. 10 of iron, 10 of charcoal producing 2 of steel and about 3 days of constant work with a minimize size to be even close to economically feasible. So converting iron coins to steel coins would be a major loss economically.
If the crafting rule that Panatagruel666 references is correct, then its its lack of reality makes the economics nonsense.
The crafting rule I reference is the generic crafting rule in 2024: crafting an item requires 1 day per 10 gp of value and raw materials equal to half the value of the finished product (2014 took twice as long; not sure why the change).
Lol, you could convert a metric ton in a day with little effort.
You also missed the point, they convert iron to steel anyway, this is something this world does, the issue is coins being the source of iron. I also think your a little off on your figures but the paradox involved is unaffected by your logic either way.
Steel coinage has existed historically, yes — but always in the same role as modern steel coins: as *low-value token currency*. Nobody based their entire monetary system on steel because it fails the basic commodity test. Steel is too useful, too corrosive, and too easy to produce. Historical examples actually reinforce the problem: they worked only because they were pegged to higher-value standards (silver/gold) or tightly controlled fiat.
Even if Krynn’s steel coins had a unique alloy, hidden density, or Damascus-style forging marks, that only addresses counterfeiting. It doesn’t stop the arbitrage and melt-value paradox. If the coin is the same raw material as weapons, cookware, or armor, the economy still collapses when raw demand outpaces face value. That’s why no historical system ever scaled with steel as its primary currency.
At the end of the day, symbolism isn’t economics. Dragonlance “steel” coins either have to be fiat tokens (stamped value, not material value), or a hard retcon: silver-plated gold called steel by cultural quirk. Both fixes keep the flavor while removing the contradictions. Without that, the system fails the most basic logic pass.
Man, I am usually the one arguing for realism, but unless you are running an economic simulation, this is a moot point. This is one of those times where you have to just accept the fact that it's a game. The game rules cannot possibly cover (realistically and accurately) every nuance of real life, nor should they try.
Seriously. If you have a player that sits down at your table and decides to start smelting coins and setting up a shop rather than adventuring, they are straight up playing the wrong game.
If you don't like the steel system, change it. Or do any of a number of things to correct the issue as you see it. Do I think it's worth the trouble to do any of that?
No. Not at all.
For the record, I agree with you. It's unrealistic. But there isn't much realism to be had in Dungeons & Dragons.
Shawn D. Robertson
"Deride not the differing views of others, for it is in thoughtful and considerate conversation we find our greatest friends."
~Me~
Do you have players that would actually rather spend their session talking about how they are sitting in town melting down coins? They’d rather do that then go fight some draconians? Explore a ruin in the plains of dust? Have a strategy meeting with the knights of solamnia?
This is only a problem in theory. You can just ignore it and let it be a game about adventuring instead of a crafting sim. The dice will roll just as well.
Not by the rules in D&D. If the DM decides to suspend the rules, that's on them. Also, for any reasonable definition of steel, no you can't. You don't get decent quality steel in large quantities before the industrial revolution. There are lots of realism problems with iron and steel as currency, but eliminating the gameplay problems isn't hard for the DM.
I know I am missing something from what you said. 2 iron coins = 1 steel. So if you melt 2 iron coins, how do you make money? If you melt 1 iron coin, it does not become steel as it needs other metals and items. In addition, that forge needs to burn a lot of fuel due to the high heat needed to burn some ingredients and melt out impurities.
Ignoring the capital cost (forge itself), you need to have 1 iron coin, + other ingredients + fuel for the forge (consumable) + cost of labor. If ingredients +fuel+labor comes out to less than an Iron coin, yes you can make money via counterfeiting. But I doubt you would break the economy as the amount made would not be that much would it?
This was pointed out when Dragonlance first came out back in the mid 80's. When our DM forced our characters to go through a portal to Dragonlance, the first thing my Paladin did was have his full plate armor melted down, recast into coins, then repurchased another set of armor and pocketed a ton of coin.
And for those that don't know, Steel is made from iron and a tiny bit of carbon. Not exactly difficult, all you need is a forge that runs hot enough.
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (original Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
That’s the crux of it — by RAW, a longsword costs 20 steel pieces. By coin weight, that’s 0.4 lb of “steel” buying a 4 lb sword. Even if you cap production, the math breaks the world. This isn’t a realism nitpick, it’s a gameplay contradiction.
Historically, you’re right that high-quality steel in bulk came later, but even primitive bloomery and tatara methods could make usable steel from iron sand or ore. It doesn’t take industrialization to turn out pounds of it. Which means the “steel is precious” narrative collapses under its own premise.
Sure, a DM can handwave it — but that’s admitting it doesn’t stand on its own. If the writers wanted steel coins as a symbol, fine, but mechanically it only works as fiat. Otherwise it fails the most basic check: players will always try to arbitrage, and by the book they’d succeed.
You’re missing the economic principle, not the metallurgy. The official table says 2 iron coins = 1 steel coin. That creates an arbitrage loop whether you can literally melt them or not. If the rules tell players “iron coinage exists, steel coinage exists, and they trade at 2:1,” then by definition players will look for ways to convert. The system breaks at the design level, not the forge level.
Even if you handwave fuel, labor, and inefficiencies, the problem doesn’t go away: a coin cannot be both currency and a raw material without inviting arbitrage. That’s why real-world economies never used iron or steel as their primary standard — they’re too useful industrially. The gameplay issue isn’t counterfeiting, it’s that the rules themselves tell players “here’s free money” unless the DM blocks it. That’s not a narrative flourish, that’s a world-breaking flaw.
No, by the book they'd fail, because the only tool they have available to convert iron to steel is the crafting rules. The same for trying to melt your sword down into coins. You have to go beyond the book to actually break anything.
It's a dumb idea introduced as a way to make the setting look different way back in the 80s, but it's not exploitable in-game for the simple reason that the economic tools to exploit it don't exist in the game.
Is the currency blank slugs? No stamp or mark?
The coins could also be similar to current pennies with a different material inside (dragon skin?).
The coins could be enchanted similar to the ones in Master of the 6th Magic.
But like others said, it doesn't matter. Not at all.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Thank you for making my point for me — the only reason it doesn’t collapse in play is because the rules conveniently leave out the tools to touch the economy at all. By RAW, players can’t mint coins, melt swords into currency, or arbitrage metals. But that’s not a “fix,” that’s just an omission. It works only because the game pretends the contradiction isn’t there.
The second you apply even the most basic real-world logic, the whole thing falls apart. A currency can’t be the same raw material as the goods it buys without running into melt-value and arbitrage loops.
So yes, it’s “safe” if you play strictly in the tiny box of the crafting rules — but that’s an admission that it’s broken outside the box. Which is why my solution is simple: retcon it. Steel coins are just gold coins with a cultural name. Clean, consistent, and no world-breaking contradictions the moment anyone asks a question the rules don’t cover.
Full disclosure: I’ve been DMing since the white box set, and in my games players can do whatever they want — I encourage agency. The 5e rules are a glaring mix of nonsense and logical absurdity, and I treat them as guidelines, not shackles. I’ve run entire campaigns for months where not a single creature died and everyone still had a blast. Over 40+ years I’ve had thousands of players happily play my tables. On top of that, I’ve worked in my government’s Treasury ministry. So for me, trying to ignore the economic contradictions here would be like a doctor pretending first aid rules don’t matter in-game. You just can’t unsee it.