I was putting together a random table for currency generation. I did not understand the intent behind the way the price listings were. It felt odd having to convert the silver into gold, if the value was high enough, for example, 1d4x5 = 5-20 sp, (20 sp = 2 gold).
Why not just write it so that it remains just silver or only gold for the entry? For example, 1d8 sp remains only silver, an entry of 1d4x5 gp is only gold. Seems odd that we need to convert it to silver to gold when you reach the upper limits of the gem range on the first two gem tables while the lower limits remain in silver.
As written in the GM Core, it seemed like they could have meant you find 1d4 gems worth 5 sp each. So this was the reason for my inquiry.