There are a lot of ways to bling out tabletop board games. In our last #GamerGiftGuide I listed a ton of cool ways to improve your existing games. While looking for items for that list one thing just kept coming up: replacement money for games.
I only put one set of coins on that list, but there are a ton of other options for upgrading your in-game currency and I wanted to feature some of them in this #GamerGiftGuide: Money, money, money.
Disclosure: Some links in this post are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Poker Chips
One of the first things a lot of players do when sitting down to play a game is toss out the paper money and grab some poker chips. The first time I saw this done was in Power Grid
but it’s a common practice. Poker Chips come in a huge variety of weight, materials, thickness, etc. One of the most popular sets is this 11.5 gram Dice Style 500 Piece Set by Trademark Poker
. If you want something high end the Brybell Ultimate 14-Gram Heavyweight Case
may be for you.Paper Money
Now, most people don’t like paper money but there are a surprising number of players that do dig it. One of the cheapest ways to get some paper money is to buy play money meant for kids. Many of these sets are under $10 and some even include coins. Like this set from Learn & Climb
. Not all paper money has to be American either. Check out this 400 Pcs Chinese Joss set
. One of my favourite paper money sets is this awesome set for Firefly: The Game, The Big Damn Money Deluxe Accessor
y. The problem with this set is that it starts at $100 bills, so doesn’t work with many games.Gems and Jewels
A growing number of board games have started coming with acrylic gems, often replacing the humble wooden cube. You can get gems of your own in a variety of shapes and colours. There’s this 190 piece pack of Acrylic Color Ice Rock Crystals
available in a variety of colours. You can also find plastic gems in a more traditional diamond shape. Like this set of 240 pieces
available in assorted or one colour. If you want something larger try this set of 1″ Diamond Crystals.
Plastic Coins
If you want modern money, again, kids play money tends to be a cheap option. Like this set of Learning Resources Play Money
. There are a crazy amount of gold plastic Pirate Coins out there as well. Here’s a pack of 144
for a very low price. I also dig this set of Plastic Coins (in assorted colors) 
and you can use them similar to poker chips, with different colors representing different values.Metal Coins – Generic
Metal coins have really grown in popularity and more importantly dropped in price. One of the most popular and affordable sets out there are these Metal Pirate Coins.
You can get a 30 pack, a 200 pack, and even a 500 pack. Chinese Fortune Coins
are also very easy to find, very affordable and work great for a wide variety of games. For something more modern check out this Generic Metal Coins: Set of 55
.Metal Coins – Fantasy
There are so many metal coins out there I figured it was best to break them up. Check out these D&D Monster Adventure Coins. Broken Token has some great Barbarian Gold as well as these great Fantasy Coins.
Metal Coins – Sci-Fi
While not quite as popular or common as fantasy coins, there are some pretty great sci-fi themed coins out there too. I really dig this series of coins from Broken Token. They come in 1 Credit, 5 Credit, 25 Credits, and 100 Credits. Xia Legends of a Drift System came with some great coins but it looks like you can only get the 2,000cR coins separately.
Metal Coins – Game Specific
You can also get metal coins that are designed to go with specific games. Like these Wondrous Metal Coins
for 7 Wonders
. Or The Deepwater Metal Coins
for Lords of Waterdeep
. How about the Scythe Metal Coins from Stonemaier? Many of the game-specific coins don’t have anything that really ties them to the game they are for either, so many can be used for a wide number of games in your collection.Unique ways to track money
Here are some items I thought of that didn’t really fit in anywhere else. Consider these Mahjong counting sticks
. The amazing people on Board Game Geek love using Artscow to print their own custom decks of playing cards. One unique deck that applies well here is this Deck of Power Grid replacement money. The Game Crafter also has a great set of cards called Cash Money. I dig the idea of replacing paper money with cards.Now it’s time for you to “Show Me The Money!” What types of currency upgrades have you made to your games?
