Money in ME
 

What kind of currency is used where in ME?

The only reference to money I can remember is when Barliman paid Merry for the missing ponies, and no names or denominations were listed that I can remember.

Well, I know Bilbo gave Sam a bag of gold coins; the last of the "Smaug vintage". And in HoME Vol. 6, Tolkien makes mention of "silver pennies" (which were worth considerably more than a penny.)

So there were coins of some kind. I image each province or kingdom had their own coin, but since they were made of gold and silver, they were probably universally acceptable whereever money was needed in Middle Earth.. which wasn't too many places.

Of course, after Bree, I don't think the Fellowship had to pay for much of anything. And once Frodo destroyed the ring, I imagine "his money was no good" about whereever he went. At least until he got back to the Shire.

Shops in ME would have accepted any form of gold or silver currency, I would imagine. Laws were more lax in those days. Varying from shop to shop, gold and silver coins would have been universally accepted in trading, and some may even have taken the copper or lead pennies that travellers offered.

Don't forget that Middle earth is roughly based on the Dark Ages. Barter was an important means of economic exchange in the Dark Ages and I expect that the same was true in Middle earth.