Gold is the currency in Diablo II. Prices of items and repairs are expressed in gold generally. However, gold is virtually worthless when trading other with players.
History[]
Gold has long served as the sole reliable currency in the world of Sanctuary. This precious metal is melted into small gold slugs, which are then pressed and stamped with the heraldry of the kingdom that created them. Each coin throughout the realms possesses the same value, regardless of the coin's shape or size.
In-game mechanics[]
Your character can carry 10,000 gold per level. For example, a 10th-level character can carry up to 100,000 gold. A level 99 character can carry 990,000 gold. The maximum amount of gold a character can carry with stash is 3,490,000, at level 99. Gold does not share space with items or weapons in your backpack as it did in Diablo.
If you are killed, your character will lose a percentage of the total gold both carried and stored in the Stash. This percentage is equal to your character's level but will not exceed 20%. After this 'death penalty' is deducted, the remaining gold your character was carrying falls to the ground in a pile. If the penalty exceeds the amount of gold you were carrying, the remainder of the penalty is deducted from your Stash.
In Single-Player, dying will not deplete your entire gold supply. No gold is lost from your Stash, and 500 gold per character level is exempt from the death penalty. For example, if a 10th level Single-Player character with 5,000 gold dies, he will lose no gold.
Few other items can also be used as currency. While players don't need more gold, they often need items like gems.
Other items used as money/currency[]
Players tend to use Perfect Gems as very valuable currency. These items are useful in many ways - most notably for Horadric Cube combinations and socketed weapons and armor.
The Stone of Jordan, considered by many players as the best available ring in Diablo II, was often duplicated and hacked. It lost its former value and was used like money, as players often had many of these "rare" rings in their inventories. Eventually, they became incredibly numerous - and worthless. Blizzard included in patch 1.10 a few uses for this ring with the Horadric Cube and "World Event" to encourage players to use their Stones of Jordan to get rid of large amounts of these items from player inventories.