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I'm posting this thread here 'cause I'm not sure what forum would be most appropriate.

In the Dragonlance setting, as most members here likely already know, the most valuable (sp?) coins are minted from steel while gold, though not entirely worthless, is far less coveted than in other D&D settings, or most fantasy fiction period.

Has there ever been written or published an explanation for why gold has less worth on Krynn? Has some fluke of geology made it more abundant than on other worlds?

This is partly correct. On Krynn Steel itself is not as abundant. Often Gold is used as gilding in many Dragonlance art representations to illustrate how Gold is not really worth what it is in most Campaign worlds. Check out the Old Easley & Elmore Dl pieces. Perhaps steels prominence as coinage is because Krynn is war torn and recovering from a Cataclysm that nearly destroyed it. Steel makes tools, weapons, armor, ect.

Just about anything can be precious if it is rare enough.

Although it is the most common metal in the Earth's crust, aluminum used to be considered a precious metal due to the expense and difficulty of refining it. That changed when new refining processes were invented in the 1880s, which made refined aluminum more abundant, which in turn caused its value to drop.

In a world where iron is less common than gold, steel coins make a certain amount of sense.

here is a little information i found on coinage on kyrnn
http://www.dlnexus.com/archives/astinus ... rency.aspx