Gil

This is the standard currency of Vana'diel. It is obtained in a number of ways:

• The most common way to obtain gil is by selling unwanted/unneeded items at the Auction House. See Farming.
• Similarly you can put items up for sale in your Bazaar, or you can simply trade items to other players for a mutually agreed upon price.
• Some players sell services, such as teleport and Raise, to other players in exchange for gil.
• Dropped by beastmen (including enemies such as Fomors and qutrub) when they are defeated. Amount dropped increases with the level of the enemy. It is usually a relatively small amount.
• Dropped by some NMs throughout the game. They have the potential to drop pretty decent amounts.
• Treasure chests and coffers may contain gil upon being opened. Amount tends to increase based upon the level of the area it is found in.
• Thieves can Mug beastmen and some NMs for gil. Typically Mug yields insignificant amounts, although some NMs can potentially give a good few thousand. Once again, the higher the monster's level, the higher the possible amount you can Mug.
• BCNMs will have a gil reward when defeated, as will ENMs and some other battles of that type.
• Some Quests and Missions have gil rewards. Missions can give very good gil rewards when you reach the higher ranks for the three main cities.
• Merchants will buy most items from you. This tends to be a very poor source of gil, although some "junk" items and other things can sometimes be sold to a merchant for as much or more than the Auction House.
• Completing any Fields of Valor or Grounds of Valor training regime awards gil upon completion. The gil awarded is equal to the amount of experience points gained. OOE
• You start the game with 10 gil.

Once you have gil there are a number of useful ways to spend it:

• Buy needed items at the Auction House.
• Buy items from other players' Bazaars.
• Buy services from other players.
• Buy items from NPC shops.

Vana'diel has a thriving economy which can be subject to inflation and deflation just as real life economies can. For example, in 2006 a stack of Beehive Chips would have gone for over 30,000 gil due to inflation, but nowadays go for around 4,000 a stack.

The maximum amount of gil you can carry is 999,999,999. The maximum amount of gil you can send through a Delivery Box is 1,000,000.

Abbreviations: g = 1 gil, k = 1,000 gil, mil(m) = 1,000,000 gil

Historical Background

Gil (in Japanese: ギル giru) is the staple currency in all Final Fantasy games. The origin of the word is relatively unknown however, Final Fantasy IV offers an explanation. In FFIV the word Gil is named after Gilbart, a common name within the royal family of Damcyan and was originally used as the currency of the Kingdom of Damcyan. Gil also appears to be a metric currency (measured in base ten).

In most Final Fantasy games the typical way to earn gil is from the random battles a player encounters. One clear exception is Final Fantasy VIII where gil is earned as a stipend from the mercenary academy. Another is Final Fantasy XII where monsters drop loot for which is then sold/traded for gil. Final Fantasy XI is also somewhat of a special case due to it being a MMORPG; see above.

Gil is virtually never actually seen in-game. One exception of when it's visible is when the Gil Toss command is used in various Final Fantasy games. Little is known on the actual appearance of gil. In Final Fantasy X gil comes in several colors, quite possibly representing different metals, and each different kind of coin bearing an image on one side and the value of the coin on the other. In Final Fantasy VI, the appearance of gil is seen as silver coins with a hole through them. This suggests that gil could be based on the Japanese mon (文), which have holes through the coin so they can be carried on a string. In some other cases, such as Final Fantasy XI, the currency is more akin to the real world Japanese yen.

Guilder is the English translation for the Dutch/German gulden, meaning "gold penny", and was the Dutch currency until the euro. (Wikipedia)