Coinage determined the amount and quality of the metal. Coins allowed for payment by count rather than by weight. The power of the coin came from the seignior or the feudal lord. Coining of money was an act of sovereignty by the lord. Producing counterfeit money was an act of treason.
Token money is money whose face value is more than the value of the material of which it is made.
Our coins and paper money in the U.S. is token money. It costs only pennies to produce but it is valued more than that. The word bank comes from the Italian word, banca, meaning bench. Banking spread from Italy to England. English bankers were goldsmiths that held money and other valuables in safekeeping for individuals.