Tin, Copper, Silver and Gold
Age of Conan runs on four denominations of Hyborian currency — Tin, Copper, Silver and Gold, in ascending order of value, each convertible into the next at a fixed rate. Below level 40, Silver is effectively your main working currency; Gold itself is genuinely rare and hard to come by at low levels, to the point that veteran players describe needing weeks of daily play just to afford a basic mount's Gold cost on a fresh character. Don't panic if your Gold total looks tiny for a long stretch of early leveling — that's normal, not a sign you're doing something wrong.
Once you're using Gold regularly as your primary currency for trades and purchases, that's a reliable signal you've reached the game's late-game economy, roughly matching when your character itself reaches the higher levels.
Questing Is Your Early Gold Source
For new players, questing is by far the most straightforward way to build up currency — quest completion rewards scale with the difficulty and level of the content, and higher-level zones pay out noticeably more than the earliest areas. Beyond the direct currency reward, many quests hand out items with real resale value, so it's worth checking what a quest reward actually is before automatically vendoring it.
Early on, simply exploring and fighting NPCs as you go nets a slow but steady trickle of currency on top of quest rewards — you don't need a dedicated "farming session" mentality this early, since normal leveling play already generates reasonable income relative to what you need to spend at that stage.
Crafting and Trade Chat
Crafting becomes a genuinely strong income source once your crafting skills are built up — high-level crafted gear and consumables are in real demand from other players, and selling through trade chat directly to other players consistently nets better prices than dumping the same items on city vendors. This isn't a beginner-friendly income source though; it requires investing real time into leveling a profession before the payoff arrives, so treat it as a mid-to-late-game plan rather than something a fresh character should lean on.
Gold Becomes Real at Higher Levels
The jump in available Gold income at higher levels is dramatic compared to the early game — quest rewards, monster drops and crafted-item value all scale up substantially as you approach the level cap. This mirrors a pattern common across many MMOs: don't judge your Gold-farming potential by how things feel at level 20, since the economy genuinely opens up as you climb.
Once you're geared and leveled enough to participate in higher-tier content, that content itself becomes your best Gold source — there's little reason to keep running low-level farming routes once better-paying options are available to you.
Gold Takes Patience in Age of Conan
Community consensus across Age of Conan's long life is consistent on one point: Gold accumulation here rewards patience and persistence over any single clever trick. Players who found a Gold-making method they genuinely enjoyed — whether that's crafting, questing through new zones, or trade-chat flipping — tended to stick with it and build wealth steadily, while those chasing whatever the current "best" method supposedly is often burn out faster than they accumulate currency.
If you're finding Gold farming tedious, that's a signal to switch methods rather than push through — Age of Conan has enough viable income paths that you don't need to grind one you actively dislike.
Trade Chat vs. City Vendors
City vendors offer instant, guaranteed Gold for anything you sell them, but their prices sit well below what a motivated buyer will pay through trade chat for the same item. The trade-off is time and effort — vendoring is instant, while trade chat requires actually finding a buyer, negotiating, and sometimes waiting. For low-value junk, vendor it and move on; for anything with genuine crafting or gearing value, trade chat is worth the extra few minutes for a meaningfully better return.
Server population matters here too — on a healthier, more populated server, trade chat moves faster and prices stay more competitive, while a quieter server may make vendor sales the more practical choice simply because finding a buyer takes longer than the Gold difference is worth.
Whichever methods you settle on, keep in mind that Age of Conan's community has consistently emphasized enjoyment over pure efficiency when it comes to Gold farming — a method you'll actually stick with beats a theoretically faster one you burn out on after a week.
Finally, don't overlook consumables as a Gold sink you can plan around rather than a surprise expense — budgeting a portion of your farming income for potions and repairs ahead of a big grinding session keeps you from running short mid-session and having to cut a productive farm short.
Selling Your Gold Safely
If farming isn't for you, buying gold directly is the faster (if riskier) alternative — see our safety guide before doing so, and check current top-ranked sellers below.
Prefer to skip the grind? See our full vendor rankings or jump straight to a specific game:
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Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between Tin, Copper, Silver and Gold in Age of Conan?
They're four denominations of the same currency system in ascending order of value, each convertible to the next. Silver is your main working currency below level 40; Gold becomes your primary currency once you're deeper into the late game.
Why is Gold so hard to get early on?
Gold is genuinely the rarest denomination at low levels by design — it's normal for a fresh character to have very little Gold for a long stretch. Income opens up substantially as you level and gain access to higher-value content.
Is crafting worth it for making Gold in Age of Conan?
Yes, but it's a mid-to-late-game strategy — you need real time invested in leveling a profession before crafted gear and consumables become profitable to sell, especially through trade chat directly to other players.