Quote:
Originally Posted by Inziladun
Why? Gold is gold. A coin as a coin is only a representative object as concerns its issuer, usually a government. The Hobbits weren't bound to any particular type of coinage, they only used coins because they were convenient. I don't think Maggot would have turned down a gold bar. I wouldn't!
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Well, to put it in perspective, Butterbur offered Merry 30 silver pennies in compensation for his lost ponies. If a gold coin is of value about, say, 20 silver pennies (it may have been more), then the value of a gold coin is the value of several modes of transportation - in our society maybe that is several hundred or thousand dollars in equivalent value.
So, if the Nazgul pays with a gold ingot (enough to make several hundred or more gold coins), what is Maggot going to do with it? Walk into the nearest pub, buy a beer (for a few coppers) and ask for change ?!?!?!? He can't do much of ANYTHING with it until he finds someone with enough loose change to convert it - and with a desire to have their very own gold ingot (which THEY can't do much with).
Maybe Gondor would have a banking system able to handle/convert it. I expect the Dwarves could have converted it. But I don't see that the Shire was set up to convert something of that value.