Gold

Currency
The monetary system has been tweaked slightly. Copper and silver pieces were more an exercise in record keeping than useful currencies so they’ve been eliminated. Instead there are gold pieces (1gp), electrum pieces (5gp) and platinum pieces (10gp). As a result many of the mundane items in the PHB have had their prices increased to compensate for this change. Do not fret, you will be receiving gold in much greater quantities throughout your adventures. But gold is not a powerful motivator for every adventure."1 PP = 2 EP = 10 GP"

Treasure
Gold will also be useful for enchanting or enhancing weapons and armor in purely statistical ways (eg. turning a normal weapon into a +1 version, or a +1 weapon into its +2 version). Treasure will be treated a little bit differently. Enchanted items you find on adventures will not be statistical upgrades. Instead, the magical items you find will be ones that either offer new options for approaching situations in and out of combat.