Gil
From Final Fantasy Wiki
Gil (also translated as GP), is the currency in all of the Final Fantasy games. According to Final Fantasy IV, the Gil is named after the Gilbert family of Damcyan.
[edit] Appearance
Though gil is virtually never seen in-game normally, it is often visible when using the Gil Toss command. In Final Fantasy X, gil comes in several colors (and presumably metals), and each bears an image on one side and the value of the coin on the other. It is unknown if "gil bills" are ever used in any Final Fantasy game. In Final Fantasy VI, gil appears as silver coins with a hole through them. This suggests that gil is loosely based on the Japanese mon (文), which have holes through the coin so they may be carried on a string. In some other cases, the currency is akin to the real world Japanese yen.
[edit] Acquiring
In most Final Fantasy games, gil is won by defeating enemies. There are exceptions, however. In Final Fantasy VIII, the player earns a regular salary based on their SeeD ranking. In Final Fantasy XII, monsters do not give gil but instead drop loot which can be sold. In some games, gil can also be stolen from monsters. Otherwise, gil is very often found in treasure chests and awarded for subquests. Some games offer the player the chance to win more gil from battles by using certain Accessories or abilities, and some penalize the player an amount of gil for fleeing from battle.
Naturally, in games where monsters leave gil, stronger monsters usually leave more. The reverse applies for games that penalize the player for fleeing - the stronger the monsters they are fleeing from, the more gil they will lose.
[edit] Usage
Gil appears to be a metric currency, measured in base ten, but its exact value appears to fluctuate between games. For example, in Final Fantasy VI, a Potion costs 250 gil, but only 100 in Final Fantasy VII. This is also shown when selling goods, such as Ethers being sold for 1500 gil in Final Fantasy VII, but only 1000 gil in Final Fantasy IX. Generally, items sell for half their original sale price. Some items, such as Elixirs, have very low sale prices, usually only 1 gil, meant to discourage the player from selling such rare items. The value of items between individual shops and towns is universal for most games, and items do not change in pricing depending on where the player shops.
Gil also has other uses. The most common of these is the Gil Toss ability, which allows the player to damage enemies by throwing money at them. Gil Toss often does great damage, but at the obvious drawback of costing a great deal of gil. In Final Fantasy X, gil can be used to bribe monsters to leave the battle. In Final Fantasy XII, the Turtleshell Choker Accessory allows the equipped party member to cast spells using gil instead of MP.
In Final Fantasy VII, gil and GP are treated as separate currencies. At the Gold Saucer amusement park, GP is used to pay for many attractions, while others charge gil. GP is also used to buy items from the park. GP cannot be bought, but a man randomly appears outside the park who sells the player GP for 100 gil apiece. Otherwise, GP can only be acquired by winning the Saucer's minigames.
