You now, I never considered the idea of Eorzean banknotes, but now that you've said it I'm on board with the idea. It makes way more sense than carrying around a huge bag full of coins. (Though it does somewhat lack the aesthetic appeal of dumping the aforementioned bag of coins out onto a table/counter/whatever...)
Okay buddy buckle up cause I love me some Theoretical Currency™ talk. I apologize for the ramble.
I imagine Eorzea, and pretty much any of the more “modernized” ( for lack of a better term ) countries/societies we get to see in game would have some sort of banknote. I myself would probably exclude things like the Beast Tribe currencies from that list, as their money is pretty much always traded exclusively within the tribe, for smaller and/or personal purchases, and therefore exists on a pretty small scale.
For large purchases requiring vast sums of gil, though - I feel like the Eorzean countries would have to have their own banknotes. All of the Eorzean city-states have decently large, organized militaries and bureaucratic systems in place, which translates to a large amount of money needed to make it all function.
Though of course I still love the idea of coin gil, because the aesthetic of having a coin purse on your person, perhaps a little leather satchel or something with the distinct clink of coins whenever it’s set down.... I live for that shit. But in terms of realism ( Realism, in my FFXIV? ) for large purchases requiring millions upon millions of gil? I feel like some sort of banknote system would have to be employed.
Doubtless, characters could and would perhaps carry a “wallet” with some sort of identification, banknotes, letters, and so on - whilst also carrying a coin purse of gil. The gil would then be perhaps to them like carrying cash to us; a smaller, more convenient amount of spending money, in a way - and then the bank notes perhaps more a comparison to us carrying credit cards. So that way we can have both? Both! Both is good.
But if banknotes were commonplace... would the currency be specific to the country or the city-state? Or would, say, the Eorzean Alliance have some sort of currency that all of the countries within it share? What about banks? Are banks more like vaults, with vast stashes of hard coinage in them? How would it be made? How would counterfeit money be made? How could you tell the difference?
Can you use your tomestone to pay online?
