[Say, it isn't that bad!]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

I favor the second option. That way, mages cannot destroy the local economy with fakes (other mages can detect the forgeries, as can some magical items, and tossing the forgery into a no mana zone would have them revert).

Given that the legal/police systems of most countries, even in low-tech societies, are already set up to handle mundane counterfeiting, I don't really see magical counterfeiting at this scale as being able to break most local economies.

If nothing else, if the mage stays in one place and always seems to have money despite not holding a job, people will get suspicious...

Edit: Plus, at some point (probably not too far off), someone's going to make their roll versus the counterfeit. So I see this as more useful for a mage who needs spare cash now, and is a little lax on the legalities.