Currency

Currency is any item accumulated and used to make purchases. Money is the definitive example of currency.

Lore
Gold sovereigns were a type of currency in the kingdom of Azeroth.


 * Money: gold piece,  silver piece, and  copper piece.

In World of Warcraft
In WoW, there are various types of currency; money, of course, but also honor system currencies and faction currencies.

Currency tab
These can be represented by an inventory item that must be carried, but money has long been tracked as a numeric value only, not represented in inventory, and as of Patch 3.0.2, many currencies are now tracked in the Currency tab of the character window and have no inventory item. (When the patch was applied, these inventory items were converted and were removed from inventories.) (References to a Token tab of the character window appear to refer to a beta implementation.)

These virtual items with no inventory representation show up as icons in the currency page and on price lists for items they can purchase.

Main bag currency display
Traditionally, and by default, the amount of money a character has is displayed in the margin below the main bag in the main bag window when the main bag is opened. This is convenient for purchases, since the main bag will open automatically when a vendor is accessed. With Patch 3.0.2, this line can be set on the Currency tab to display a different currency other than money by selecting tracking for that currency on the Currency tab, however addons for bags may stop additional tracked currencies from showing up. Tracking can also be set back to track money.

Money
All money is stored on the server as a 32 bit integer amount of copper. The WoW client UI calculates the amount of gold, silver, and copper for presentation to the player.

Money conversion:

Money can be transferred or given away. Since non-item currencies do not have a binding property, technically none of them are bound, but the game provides no mechanism for transferring non-item currencies other than money. Several interfaces facilitate the transfer of money among characters, including a section of the trade window, a section of the mail interface, the C.O.D. section of the mail interface, and various parts of the auction interface.

Non-item currencies, including money, cannot be destroyed, they can only be accumulated and spent, or transferred (money only) as related above.

Points as currencies
As of patch 4.0.1, most items once used as currency was converted to an updated point system. The original honor points and arena points were also removed.


 * PvE points
 * Justice Point
 * Valor Point
 * PvP points
 * Honor Point (sometimes shown as )
 * Conquest Point (sometimes shown as )

Between Patch 3.0.2 and 4.0.1, these points are tracked on the Currency tab of the character window. Prior to 3.0.2 these points were tracked on the PvP tab of the character window.


 * Honor point (sometimes shown as )
 * Arena point

Items tracked as currencies
As of Patch 3.0.2, these items disappeared immediately after they were obtained and are instead tracked in the Currency tab of the character window. Prior to the patch, these were represented by an inventory item.


 * Warsong Gulch Mark of Honor No longer obtainable after 3.3.3, and removed in 4.0.1
 * Arathi Basin Mark of Honor No longer obtainable after 3.3.3, and removed in 4.0.1
 * Alterac Valley Mark of Honor No longer obtainable after 3.3.3, and removed in 4.0.1
 * Eye of the Storm Mark of Honor  No longer obtainable after 3.3.3, and removed in 4.0.1
 * Strand of the Ancients Mark of Honor  No longer obtainable after 3.3.3, and removed in 4.0.1
 * Isle of Conquest Mark of Honor  No longer obtainable after 3.3.3, and removed in 4.0.1
 * Wintergrasp Mark of Honor  Removed in 4.0.1
 * Badge of Justice  Removed in 4.0.1
 * Venture Coin  Removed in 4.0.1
 * Dalaran Cooking Award
 * Dalaran Jewelcrafter's Token
 * Stone Keeper's Shard  Removed in 4.0.1
 * Champion's Seal
 * Emblem of Heroism  Removed in 4.0.1
 * Emblem of Valor  Removed in 4.0.1
 * Emblem of Conquest  Removed in 4.0.1
 * Emblem of Triumph  Removed in 4.0.1
 * Emblem of Frost  Removed in 4.0.1

Items used as currencies
These items are represented in the character's inventory by an item. Most, but not all, are also Bind on Pickup.


 * Mark of Honor Hold
 * Mark of Thrallmar
 * Glowcap
 * Spirit Shard
 * Arcane Rune
 * Holy Dust
 * Halaa Battle Token
 * Halaa Research Token
 * Sunmote
 * Winterfin Clam

Armor tokens
A sub-set of the above, these are items in inventory that can be exchanged for particular pieces of armor. Unlike some other varieties of "currency items", these are invariably Bind on Pickup. They are typically obtained as raid rewards. Most represent particular items (IE chest, feet, helm, etc), and most are keyed to 3-4 particular classes.


 * Tier 3 "desecrated" tokens
 * Was available from the original Naxxaramas, were removed when Naxxaramas was renovated for the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Was an 8 piece set.


 * Tier 4 "the Fallen" tokens
 * Available from Karazhan, Gruul's Lair, and Magtheridon's Lair.
 * 15 individual tokens (5 piece set). Tokens for each armor location dropped by separate bosses. See Tier 4 for details.


 * Tier 5 "the Vanquished" tokens
 * Available from Serpentshrine Cavern and The Eye in Tempest Keep.
 * 15 individual tokens (5 piece set). Tokens for each armor location dropped by separate bosses.  See Tier 5 for details.


 * Tier 6 "the Forgotten" tokens
 * Available from Sunwell, Mount Hyjal, and the Black Temple raid instances
 * 24 individual tokens (8 piece set). Tokens for each armor location dropped by separate bosses.  See Tier 6 for details.


 * Tier 7 "the Lost" tokens
 * Available as drops from 10-man Northrend raid instances: Naxxaramas, Obsidian Sanctum.  Hand and chest armor tokens also  available from Emblem of Heroism vendors.
 * 24 individual tokens (8 piece set). See Tier 7 for details.


 * Tier 8 "the Wayward" tokens
 * Available as drops from 25-man raid instances: Naxxaramas, Obsidian Sanctum. Head and chest items also available from Emblem of Conquest vendors.
 * 24 individual tokens (8 piece set). See Tier 8 for details.


 * Tier 9 tokens
 * Require items from the Trial of the Crusader and Trial of the Grand Crusader
 * item level 245 gear: Trophy of the Crusade is part of the cost, but is not keyed to class or specific item location.
 * item level 258 gear: Regalia of the Grand Conqueror,, (items are keyed to class but not location)


 * Tier 10 tokens
 * any piece of Tier 10/item level 264 armor: Vanquisher's Mark of Sanctification,, (items are keyed to class but not location)
 * any piece of Tier 10/item level 277 armor: (Heroic versions of the above) Vanquisher's Mark of Sanctification (heroic),,  (items are keyed to class but not location)

Ambiguities
There is a gray area of whether some items are currency or quest items. The discussion page Template talk:Cost has various comments about this, and incidentally has a comprehensive list of the current consensus on Wowpedia of which are currency.

Prior to Patch 3.0.2 there were only three items (five if you count gold and silver, vice copper alone) given non-inventory status. After the patch, anything listed on the Currency tab is officially currency.

To distinguish, a quest item is turned in for other items using a quest mechanic. There is usually only one place to turn in the quest items to exchange them for other items. There is often a limited selection of items available in exchange. Currency is used at a vendor that does not incorporate a quest mechanic. There is usually more than one vendor who will accept a form of currency. The selection available for purchase is broader.

Player perception is an important part of this. Items that are conceptually currency tend to be treated as currency, items that are not conceptually currency tend to be treated as quest items.