Guide:Making money

Money is an essential part of Terraria, as it allows the player to buy valuable items from NPCs.

There are many ways to earn money:
 * Killing monsters and bosses. (See also Guide:Enemy farming)
 * Selling items to NPCs.
 * Finding coins in pots and chests.
 * Using Silt Blocks, Slush Blocks, and Desert Fossils at an Extractinator.
 * Opening Crates.
 * Taxing your village.
 * Completing Fishing Quests for the Angler.
 * Farming Turkor the Ungrateful's heads.

General tips

 * Regularly deposit your money into a Piggy Bank or Safe. This minimizes the loss of coins from Death, as you drop at least half of the coins carried in the inventory.
 * In Mediumcore, you will drop all your coins, along with the rest of your inventory.
 * In general, the standard RPG trope of "collect everything you find" will pay off over time. Accumulate surplus items in chests until there's enough to be worth selling. Remember that a stack of 99 nearly turns copper into silver, and silver into gold.
 * The Skeleton Merchant can offer a chance to unload items without having to go home (especially useful for non-stackable items that you'll be selling anyway).
 * On the flip side, be careful about selling too many useful materials:
 * Not everything is about money: Blocks can be used for building, and walling off a large area can take a surprising amount of material.
 * Stone in particular is used to craft most bricks and "brick-like" blocks, which are unsalable but decorative.  (The only way to monetize stone is by crafting statues for a mere  per 1000.)
 * There really is no way to make money from dirt, mud, or snow, but you can make landscapes out of them.
 * Even once you're past their "tier", ores and bars can be useful for crafting. Iron/Lead bars in particular are used in a variety of utility recipes, and the other early bars are used in Watches. All the ores have bricks and/or walls that are useful for building, and some useful potions require ores in their recipes.
 * Be aware of renewability issues. Some items or materials have a limited per-world supply, so don't sell those unless you're really sure you're not going to want them later, not even for display. Extras of rare items can also be brought to another world for a head start there.
 * Most "found" equipment can be sold for a good amount of money, just make sure they're outclassed by your current items and can't be crafted into better items.
 * Avoid selling the materials used for boss summoning items, such as Lenses, Vertebrae and Rotten Chunks. (Iron/Lead is also used for the Hardmode bosses.) In most cases, fighting bosses is much more profitable than selling the individual materials.
 * There are at least three different ways of making a few gold pieces per minute with little effort or risk, representing three different ideas of "little effort". All of them do require investment and game advancement, but can be done well before Hardmode:
 * A Bomb Statue farm with three or more timers and ideally two or three statues. Requires the Mechanic, 10 Gold/Platinum bars per timer, and Bomb Statues (which need to be found underground).  See below for details.
 * Fishing in general is fairly profitable; if you fish in honey, the only thing you will catch is Honeyfins, apiece.  That said, fishing in honey will not let you catch crates, nor other high-value catches such as jellyfish or Golden Carp.
 * Crafting Dynasty Wood to Large Dynasty lanterns allows a "triangle trade": By shuttling between the Traveling Merchant (on a lucky day) and the regular Merchant you can turn into  (or portions thereof) without providing any materials of your own (but you do handle many stacks of torches).  By making the torches yourself (spare gel and wood) you can cut out the Merchant and turn   into .  The values given are for a full stack(+1) of Dynasty wood, but you can start with silver and work your way up.  See below for full details.

Collecting

 * Breaking Pots found around the world can release coins and other sellable items. A variety of naturally-placed Chests can also contain coins and other loot.
 * Additionally, in, pots have a rare chance of opening a Coin portal, which can yield 5-.
 * In the Caverns and in Pyramids you may find small sacks of coins spilling over stone. These are Coin Stashes. Breaking them drops their respective content.
 * Items that you collect can be accumulated for sale, though some of them are worth more once crafted into another item (see below).
 * That said, don't be afraid to trash near-worthless items in the field, so that you can keep more valuable items. If you need more of any of these, they can easily be bought, crafted, and/or farmed.  Naturally, this only applies once you have enough for your purposes, and/or better alternatives.  Some prominent offenders here include:
 * Shurikens, Ropes, and Glowsticks, which sell for only a few coppers each; even a 999-stack of any of these will only yield a few silver coins, comparable to a single Depth Meter dropped by a passing bat.
 * Herbs and their seeds, which also stack only to 99. Once you have farms of your own, there's no reason to harvest them in the wild.  Even farming them for profit is hardly worth the trouble.
 * Wooden Arrows can be upgraded but otherwise qualify, and Flaming Arrows can't even be upgraded.
 * Once you have a Bug Net and a few NPCs at your base, collecting Critters is trivial, and as they accumulate you can sell them. Their prices range from on up to . Top sellers include:
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 * Butterflies are priced according to their fishing bait values, but sell for rather more than equivalent baits (Worm, Enchanted Nightcrawler, Master Bait).
 * The Truffle Worm can be rarely found in underground Mushroom biomes in Hardmode, though catching them is difficult. Note that this is the summon item for Duke Fishron, so do not sell them if you wish to fight him.
 * Goldfishes and Worms can be easily caught during a rain in a Forest. In both cases, see "Crafting" below for maximum profit.
 * Collect all the Silt, Slush, and Desert Fossils you can find. Once you get an Extractinator, these can be converted to money, ores, and gems.
 * None of these blocks are renewable, nor are the gems. They do have few other uses:  Silt can also be used to craft Stucco for building, and Desert Fossils are explosion-proof blocks.
 * For sale, craft most gems into Stained Glass, except diamonds and amber. Sell the diamonds directly, but save any Amber for Crate Potions.  Craft Sturdy Fossils into Bone Throwing Knives for sale.  (See "Crafting" below for details.)
 * With such crafting, a full stack of 999 silt or slush can yield an average of about total, while desert fossils will average about  (but more amber).  In both cases about a third of that will be in coin, and there is a small chance of getting a jackpot in platinum coins.
 * The various dye ingredients can be sold for each whether or not they've been crafted into dyes. Strange Plants can also be traded to the Dye Trader for rare dyes, which can be sold.  The Strange Plants (at least) prevent others of their kind from spawning nearby, so harvesting them opens up territory for more to spawn.
 * Hardmode offers several new materials. While many of them are best crafted, Crystal Shards are easy to collect and sell for lots of money.   While farming them is time consuming, it can pay off well. Sold straight, 1000 shards (one stack+1) will get you ; If you have quantities of Pixie Dust (and preferably an Alchemy Table), you should divert some of those crystals into Greater Healing Potions for additional profit, see "Crafting" below.

Fishing
Fishing can provide a lot of salable stuff, especially once you get better equipment from the Angler; besides the "usual" fish, you will also catch various useful and salable tools, weapons, and accessories, not to mention the occasional Golden Carp or Crates. If you're getting impatient waiting for the Angler to give you the Golden pole, you can buy, find, or make various intermediate-powered poles. For best results, pay attention to the moon phase, time, and the size of the lake. Note that anything gotten from fishing is renewable by definition.
 * All the cookable fishes that you're not using for food are best sold uncooked. ( and up)
 * Likewise, the fish used for brewing potions all sell for more money than the potions you could craft. (mostly, including the Honeyfin)
 * Quest fishes can't be sold, but if you come up with extras (stash them in a chest or bank as you catch each one), you can turn them in for a later quest.
 * The Jellyfish are weak bait but very salable.
 * This leaves the various tools, weapons, and accessories. Use what you need, then sell off the rest.
 * All Critters used for bait (including Enchanted Nightcrawlers) sell for much more than the Angler Bait that could replace them. As soon as you get Master or even Journeyman Bait, use that instead.
 * All crates except Wooden can contain Master Bait, and the Angler can also give it as a reward. Once you have enough Master Bait, you can sell off your Apprentice Bait and Journeyman Bait  too.

Fishing for Crates with Crate Potions is an easy and safe way to make large amounts of money. Depending on location, fishing power, and if in Hardmode, this can rake in up to per Crate Potion, aside from the useful items you can save for yourself. Use the best bait you've got, with any Angler's equipment you have, and whatever relevant Potions you have.
 * You will probably get your first Crate, Fishing and Sonar potions as Angler rewards or from previously-caught crates, but once you've accumulated the makings you can also craft them for yourself.
 * This is one of the two main ways to get your world's "alternate" metals, and if you save crates for opening in Hardmode, they will also provide both alternatives for the early Hardmode ores.

Crafting
Almost any craft that requires a purchased ingredient is unlikely to be profitable, no matter how useful the item is in gameplay. (There are exceptions, see below.) Crafting together items that are "picked up for free" is another story, and there are many common materials whose sale value can be sharply improved by the proper recipe:
 * Surplus ores and/or bars can be sold for a good amount of money:
 * Most ores sell for the same or higher price as the bars made from them. The exceptions are the late pre-Hardmode ores (Meteorite, Demonite/Crimtane, Hellstone), and Chlorophyte, all of which are far more profitable as bars.
 * If you have an Autohammer, Converting Chlorophyte bars to Shroomite gets another per bar (% more).
 * Evil ores are dropped by bosses, so they can be easily farmed for sale. In Hardmode, these are joined by Hallowed Bars and Souls and the Post-Moon Lord adds Luminite.
 * On the versions, Iron (but not Lead) is worth slightly more as Chains ( for 10) than bars (/bar). On the, Chains ( for 10), sell for much more than either bar.
 * Crafting and selling Light Discs is more profitable than selling Hallowed Bars. Two of the three materials needed for crafting drop from The Destroyer, with said materials worth if sold separately ( for 5 Souls of Might +  for 4 Hallowed Bars). Three Souls of Light add  to the total sell price . The  sell price of the Light Discs nets about % more profit.
 * Cobwebs: 994 cobwebs make 142 Silk,.
 * Sand: Craft into Glass, then Mugs, then Ale.  At  per mug of ale, 1000 sand yields .  (With wood and gel you can make cendelabras, see below.)
 * Turn Goldfish into Fish Bowls.
 * You can combine Worms with Fallen Stars, for Enchanted Nightcrawlers (, and they are also better bait than plain worms).
 * Most Gems are best crafted into Stained Glass (/gem), but Diamonds can only be sold directly ( each).
 * Remember that gems are non-renewable.
 * Amber can be sold like diamonds, but it's far more profitable to brew Crate Potions with it and go Fishing (see above).
 * Several frequently-surplus materials have optimum but cumbersome sale methods. As always, be sure you won't want them for something else:
 * Bee Wax: 96 make 12 Bee Headgear.
 * Cactus: 1000 make 100 Cactus Swords plus bonuses for modifiers.  (Candelabras beat that, see below)
 * Sturdy Fossil: 1000 make 25,000 Throwing Knives for
 * If you have surpluses of multiple jungle materials (Stingers, Vines, Jungle Spores, Rich Mahogany), the Amazon is a good moneymaker ( apiece)
 * Obsidian can't be sold directly, but it can be crafted into Obsidian Skulls worth each, varying with modifiers.
 * Obsidian is also needed to craft Hellstone Bars.
 * If you also have extra Water Walking Boots, you can upgrade them to Obsidian Water Walking Boots worth . Remember that these boots come only from Water Chests, so there is a limited number in each world!
 * Various Blocks: Many otherwise unsalable blocks can be monetized as Candelabras ( each).  These include: All kinds of wood (except dynasty wood, but see below), Gel (as Slime Blocks), Sand (as half its number of Glass), Cactus, Pumpkins, Granite, Glowing mushrooms, Honey blocks, Bones, and Martian Conduit Plating.  Ice and Marble can also be used, but are non-renewable.
 * In some cases you will also need an appropriate crafting station; use the Living Loom for plain wood, as there is no plain wood candelabra.
 * Each stack of 999 blocks (plus 1 extra) will produce 200 candelabras that can be sold for.
 * Buying the torches from the Merchant costs only half of that, letting you walk away with the other half.
 * Making your own torches will instead use 200 (more) each of gel and wood.
 * Either way, for Boreal Wood and Ice, you will also need 200 (more) ice blocks to convert the torches.
 * For wood or gel, another way to work the same recipe is as follows: Start with 996 wood and 166 gel, or vice versa. Make 498 torches, then use those and 830 wood or slime blocks to make 166 candelabras as above for.
 * Dynasty wood provides a true "money for nothing" deal:
 * Dynasty wood can be purchased from the traveling merchant for apiece.  (Torches from the merchant are also  apiece, but it's much thriftier to make your own.)
 * The Large Dynasty Lantern requires 4 of each ( total if you provide the torches, double that if you buy them from the Merchant) and can be sold for.
 * This can be done on a large scale: A stack of 999 dynasty wood plus 1 extra will cost, but with torches made from 334 each wood and gel, it will produce 250 lanterns worth.
 * However, this craft can even be profitable if you do buy the torches from the merchant! This doubles your up-front cost, but you don't need to provide any material of your own, so you can take your profit and use the other  to buy another stack (plus 1) apiece of dynasty wood and torches.  In multiplayer, one player can keep the traveling merchant's shop open (preventing him from leaving) while other player(s)  buy torches, craft lanterns and ferry the resources around.

Hardmode offers some more crafts:
 * As you fight Wyverns and collect Souls of Flight, craft them into Wings . Besides the various rare drops that can only be used for Wings, this can soak up extra Souls of Night, Souls of Light, or Pixie Dust (along with Harpy Feathers).
 * Another way to use up Souls of Light and Night is to summon Biome Mimics for a tough fight with great rewards.
 * After repeating the endgame a few times, surplus Lunar Fragments can be crafted into Monoliths for sale ( each for 15 Fragments). Combining them into a Celestial Sigil effectively trades them for Luminite, but this is not profitable; even without pro-rating them, one Monolith of each type is worth more than the Moon Lord's drops.
 * Crystal shards ( each) can be combined with pixie dust ( for 3) to make 3 Greater Healing Potions, worth . An Alchemy Table can add another 50% to your output, for an average of  per crystal. With the Alchemy Table, each stack of 99 pixie dust and 33 shards (otherwise worth a mere ) will yield potions worth an average of .  Note that the small stack size for the potions makes this process slightly cumbersome.

Fighting bosses
Once a player has defeated a given boss, they will quickly reach a point where they can kill them easily. Aside from developing skills, the player is accumulating equipment over time, and progressively outclassing their former enemies. It can be quite profitable to repeatedly summon and slaughter prior bosses. In Hardmode, the use of a Flask of Gold, Golden Bullets, etc. will increase profits. In addition to the drops noted below, the occasional (10%) boss trophies can be sold for each. Recall that Demonite and Crimtane ores are best sold as bars. Note that buying Vile or Vicious Powder for a Worm Food or Bloody Spine costs only ;  for boss farming, even stocking up during a Blood Moon may be more convenient than gathering or farming the mushrooms.

Eye of Cthulhu
Even before the player reaches Hardmode, the Eye of Cthulhu can easily be defeated many times in a row, resulting in lots of money. With Hardmode equipment, it is possible to "fight" (summarily kill) the Eye 20 or more times in one night. Each kill yields in coin and an average of 59 ore. (Other drops are worth a bit of silver.) On, selling the ore as bars yields an average of  for Demonite, or  for Crimtane. For, that will be for Demonite, or  for Crimtane.

A stack of 20 Suspicious Looking Eyes (quite possible with late-game gear) will yield about in coin and   in Demonite or  in Crimtane. (For, the yield is for Demonite or  for Crimtane.)

Eater of Worlds
The Eater of Worlds drops an average of 175 Demonite ore per kill, which sells (as bars) for an average of about. ( .)

Brain of Cthulhu
The Brain of Cthulhu and its Creepers drop about coin and about 207 Crimtane ore. ( in Expert mode) On, the bars sell for about. On, the sale yields.

Queen Bee
The Queen Bee has no time restrictions and only needs to be summoned in a jungle. Like other early bosses, it becomes very easy to fight with hardmode or late-game weapons, even when "enraged". Each Queen Bee drops in coins, plus various item drops whose sale prices average to another. On most platforms, Bee Wax can be best sold by crafting it into Bee Headgear, to bring in another 2-. The Abeemination is rather easy to craft, as (except on ) all the ingredients can be found or made in the jungle, and it doesn't even need an altar to craft.

Wall of Flesh
Using Hardmode gear, you can farm the Wall of Flesh quickly and cheaply. It can be summoned day or night, but repeated summons do need to wait on the Guide respawning after his death. Drops in coins, a Pwnhammer which sells for about, and another random item which sells for 2-.

A decent way to farm the Wall in early Hardmode, even before defeating any mechanical bosses, is by boosting summons (such as the Spider Staff) with the Spider armor, backed up with a good Yoyo and the Yoyo Bag. The Amarok is easy to obtain in the Underground Snow biome and does solid damage as well as the Frostburn debuff.

The Destroyer
In Hardmode, the player can fight The Destroyer and easily win if they have good enough gear (Mythril/Orichalcum armor is advised as a minimum, piercing weapons like the magic dagger are recommended). Each kill can, on average, profit for, assuming every drop is sold. The Hallowed bars can be crafted into Light Discs, resulting on even higher profits.

With Post-Plantera gear, The Destroyer can be killed multiple times in one night.

Golem
Farming the Golem itself will yield about per kill, assuming all drops are sold.

However, you can also make quite a bit of money just farming Lihzahrds and Flying Snakes in the Golem's room. Place a Water Candle and banners nearby, grapple yourself to the ceiling, and just shoot downward for awhile, and/or let your minions hunt. After a while the Power Cells and other loot can be collected.

This method also will yield quite a lot of Solar Tablet Fragments, a fair number of Mimics, (which drop some nice money and items), and some Yelets to boot. You will average about one power cell for each banner earned; the banner messages are a good cue to collect your loot, hopefully including power cells. Conveyor belts can gather the loot into stacks, to prevent items from despawning among the flood of coins.

The solar fragments can be used for Solar Tablets, which summon the remarkably profitable Solar Eclipse (see below)

Make a house with a thin layer of Lava on the top and sides so the drops don't burn. You may want lava protection to collect the drops. He drops his own summoning item, and if you have more than one you can summon multiples of the boss. Each kill nets coins and items worth about.

During Thanksgiving, Turkor the Ungrateful can be farmed by only attacking his heads, which drop most of a gold piece each. This may not be worth the trouble: Consider that the individual heads have 2000 health (but no defense), and attack for 55 damage, then compare that to the Eye of Cthulhu's stats and drops.

Mimics
Mimics warrant special note because they drop  even without use of the Midas debuff, and you can sell the items they drop for up to. A continuously swinging sword with enough knockback to keep the Mimic at distance, or ranged weapons, can easily kill them with little risk. As noted above, farming the Golem's room will reliably produce quite a few Mimics.
 * The Star Cloak and Cross Necklace can be combined for great profit -- from to  for a Star Veil.
 * Biome Mimics drop only upfront, but most of their "special" item drops sell for, with another  for the potions. They are rarer "in the wild", but can be summoned with Keys of Light or Night.

Wyverns
Wyverns drop, and also drop Souls of Flight. On average, each Wyvern will drop slightly over half the Souls needed for a pair of wings, each pair salable for. Wings will also require an additional "key" ingredient, but many of these can be had as drops from a variety of enemies.

Events
Much as with bosses, once you have mastered an event, you can effectively farm it as desired. Suitable use of lava pools and other traps can allow killing off most of an invasion automatically, leaving you to deal with minibosses, flying enemies, and spot defense. Some highlights:
 * In Hardmode, the Pirate Invasion can yield a bit of cash and some salable Golden Furniture. However, its greatest attraction is the rare drops: A Discount Card can save a lot on purchases and reforging, but the scarce Lucky Coin is a license to coin money. (A Slime Staff can help.) The is comparatively common and very useful.
 * The Solar Eclipse can be particularly profitable -- with a Golden Ring (to rapidly gather coins) and powerful weapons, they can approach even before use of Gold Dust items. The Moon Charm and Neptune's Shell can be profitably combined into a Moon Shell.
 * Martian Invasions are more difficult to arrange on demand, but putting a Water Candle on a Floating Island will eventually lure in a Probe, and with a suitable base they can be farmed in fair safety, especially for the Saucer drops.
 * The Pumpkin Moon can yield a lot of platinum coins depending on the quality of the gear used.

Statue farming


The basic setup for statue farming involves connecting a Statue to a 1 Second Timer (or a Crab Engine). Place a shallow layer of lava (recommended) around the statue, or connect a few Dart Traps to kill the spawned monsters. Once you click the switch, all you have to do is wait for drops to accumulate. A tunnel beneath the trap can allow safe collection. Housing a vendor NPC near the farm is convenient for selling the items quickly.

Note: As of 1.3, Statue farming is much less convenient for generating money than before:


 * Statue-spawned enemies do not drop coins, many have reduced rates for their other drops, and some will not drop items if killed by traps. See the Statue page for details.
 * Sharks and mimics spawned by statues no longer spawn Dungeon Spirits (and mimics drop no loot at all).
 * Statue-spawned critters cannot be caught. If a Bug Net is used on them, they will disappear in a puff of smoke.
 * However, statues remain useful for forcing important drops such as Cell Phone or Ankh Shield components, later a Medusa Head, and so on.

The Granite Golem, Slime, and Jellyfish statues are still good for producing large volumes of individually low-value items, with occasional bonuses. Given a wood supply, Granite and gel can be sold as candelabra (see above), for 5 gold or more per stack of 999.

Bomb Statues are a little different: no lava or traps are required, but only 3 bombs can spawn at once, so you need to stay close to collect the bombs. With the maximum of 6 activations a second, the theoretical maximum take from one statue is a little over 2 gold/minute (most of 4 stacks). A more likely setup with 3 timers could get half of that, though you can also use multiple statues. In any case, you'll want a vendor NPC nearby to quickly sell the stacks of bombs.

Using Bunny Statues and Fish Statues during a Blood Moon will spawn their corrupt counterparts, which rarely drop Bunny Hoods. The normal spawn limit for Statues is 3 mobs at a time, but when Goldfish and Bunnies change to their corrupt counterparts, they don't count towards the Statue's spawn limit, so you can have seemingly endless amounts of them on screen. This also does not affect their actual spawn rate.

The Granite Golem drops the Night Vision Helmet which sells for two Gold Coins. Combined with its drop rate it can be used to quickly generate large amounts of Gold Coins in a short time if you have multiple Statues.

Typical Yields
Expected profit (when using a Crab Engine and Lava and only one statue of the following):
 * The Jellyfish Statue will yield about per hour, and will fill your inventory in about 13 minutes. This makes the Jellyfish statue probably the most effective one if you resell the items quickly.
 * The Bomb Statue will yield about per hour, and will fill your inventory in about 46 minutes.
 * The Skeleton Statue will yield about per hour, and will fill your inventory in about 18 minutes.
 * The Fish Statue will yield about  per hour and will fill your inventory in about 2 hours.
 * The Bat Statue will yield about  per hour and will fill your inventory in about 46 minutes.
 * The Piranha Statue will yield about  per hour and will fill your inventory in about 3 hours.
 * The Slime Statue will yield about  per hour and will fill your inventory in about 4.6 hours.
 * The Bunny Statue will yield about  per hour and will fill your inventory in about 12.5 hours.
 * The Bird Statue and Crab Statue will yield about per hour and will fill your inventory in about 6.4 days.
 * Shark and Mimic Statues can spawn Dungeon Spirits when the enemies are killed, yielding a lot of gold when selling the Ectoplasm.

Ideally, you would want to have all of the statues available so that you can also use some of the items dropped, if needed, and so that you can get the most profit by effectively adding up all of the profit you would get from just one of each statue.

Monster Farming
Once in Hardmode you can buy Gold Dust to craft ammunition or Flasks which will increase the amount of money monsters drop on death. Also, don't forget mobs spawn as much below you as above, so filling in any caves below your farm can increase spawn rates within the farm.

Slime Staff Farming
If you have a Lucky Coin and Slime Staff (Slime statues do drop Slime Staffs) you can farm for money very easily at the rate of about 10 Gold/Minute. Making full use of the spawning mechanics, it is possible to make the speed exceed 1 platinum per minute. A simple way to apply the slime staff is to create a space in the Lihzarhd Temple where you can stand in a box in an open space with all of the Lihzarhds crowing below you. Then summon all of the slimes you can. The slimes hit very quickly and only do about 1 damage a hit, with each hit giving a chance to drop several gold coins due to the Lucky Coin. You can do a similar farm by creating a box in the Ocean and putting 80 Lihzard blocks around you (to spawn Arapaimas and increase spawn rate).

However, minions are treated as projectiles, and since the slime won't vanish after hitting a monster, it counts as a piercing projectile: This means that each monster hit by a slime will get 1/6 second's invulnerability against more piercing attacks. This limits the effect of adding more slime minions, unless there are plenty of targets to go around.

Hallow Farm


Once you enter Hardmode, it may be a good idea to farm The Hallow. The best way to do this is to make an AFK Hallow Farm:
 * The first thing to do is to clear out a flat area in The Hallow, which will help the spawn rate. Then create a pillar, at least 15 blocks high.
 * After that, clear out two wide pits on both sides of the pillar with a thin layer of lava, thin enough to not destroy drops. This will kill the Unicorns and other ground enemies. Conveyor Belts may be helpful to collect coins into stacks.
 * The next step is to make the part to kill the Pixies and Gastropods. It should have two box shaped parts, the first part thinner than the second, which will help catch the pixies in the trap. Some players may want to separate the parts with platforms. There should be Dart Traps, Super Dart Traps, or Spear Traps on both sides of the second section, to kill the Pixies and Gastropods. These traps should be connected to a 1 Second Timer with wires.
 * The next step is to set up the player room. This room should have doors to allow the player to exit, but not allow enemies in, and a switch to control the traps.
 * For maximum efficiency, the playerroom should have a Water Candle, a Heart Lantern, a Campfire, Banners for the enemies, and a chest to store items. Optionally, an NPC can be homed there to quickly sell loot. Keep in mind, NPCs can decrease spawn rates, so be cautious where you place the house.
 * The player should also have a minion to help with the slaughter and deal with passing enemies.

Loot
You will make the most money off a 99 stack of Unicorn Horns, which will sell for each. The second most money will be from Blessed Apples, which sell for each. The third most money will be from Fast Clocks and Megaphones, which sell for each. All the enemies also drop money. Note that Pixie Dust and gel can can be used for crafting more profitable items.

Hardmode Dungeon
A very fun and effective way to grind money is to gear up with endgame gear and farm the Hardmode Dungeon. After killing Plantera go in there and farm all the monsters you see. Armored Bones drop over ten silver each, and they are so common that you can easily rack up a lot of money fast. Also, sell the Ectoplasm and drops you don't need for even more money. In one hour, you might be able to get five platinum with water candles and battle potions and maybe even a lucky Blood Moon. Another way to use the dungeon for money-making is to use a farm. Lihzahrd Temple-type traps can prove to be very useful in this method, and will make fighting in the dungeon a lot safer.

Hardmode Spider Nest
An effective way to get money is in the Hardmode Spider Nest with a strong sword such as a Cutlass or Excalibur and a Water Candle and/or Battle Potion. A Nimbus Rod can also be quite effective, and on Desktop some of the Tavernkeep's sentries (or the Queen Spider Staff) can allow farming from outside the nest.

Black Recluses drop directly, Spider Fangs (craft into Queen Spider Staffs, which sell for  each), and Poison Staffs ( each), which varies with modifiers that can change the sell value dramatically. Over time, the return (mostly from the Queen Spider Staffs) will average nearly half a gold piece per spider killed.

AFK with NPC "army"
Build yourself a little shelter. (It is recommended to NOT have a proper door, in case a Blood Moon occurs.) You will also need a considerable amount of NPCs because they strike enemies. All you have to do is just stay in your shelter, and let your NPCs do all the work. Be AFK all night if you wish to.

Then, when you return, the NPCs should have left coins everywhere from the enemies that they slay. Also, if it is a seasonal event, you can find items like Goodie Bags and Presents as well. Using Conveyor Belts helps make this process easier, because Conveyor Belts brings the items closer.

Expected Profit: per night

Player duplication
When a character (or world) is created, it is saved as a file on your computer. This means that it can be copied like any other file. The default directory for such files are, though this may change with OS. Characters are stored as .plr files; a character called "Manbearpig" will be saved as "Manbearpig.plr". If this file is copied (into "Manbearpig2.plr", for example) the in-game character selection menu will feature two characters named "Manbearpig". (Note that there is no need to copy "Manbearpig.plr.bak". Also note that the order of the .plr files in the Players-folder is representative for the in-game character list.) Any character that has items stored in portable storage, such as a Safe or Piggy Bank will also have an associated folder with the same name as the character (e.g., a folder named "Manbearpig"). If the character's folder is also copied, the player will be able to duplicate items in portable storage.

The copy will feature all items held and worn by the original (and the accompanying folder will contain all items kept in portable storage), allowing the player to duplicate money and items by repeatedly copying Manbearpig.plr (and Manbearpig folder) and deposit the copies' inventories in a storage item in-game. Creating money like this makes it increase exponentially: if you start with and copy it 31 times, you will have a little more than  (1*2=2 (one copy) → 230=1073741824 copper coins = 1073 platinum coins).

Copied character files can afterwards be deleted with no issues arising, though you may wish to also delete each copy's respective .plr.bak file and folder (keeping obsolete .bak files and folders will not impact the game, but it may cause yourself some confusion later). Though arguably being somewhat cumbersome, this method is convenient as it requires no third-party software.

Read-only world file
Set your world to "read-only" while you have all your coins in a chest, then load the world. Take the coins, and exit. Set "read-only" off and play again. The coins you took while the world was "read-only" will be in the chest, and you can take them out. If you had, say, about 50 gold, you could get a platinum, and, if you do it again, you can get 2 platinum. And you can do this method whenever needed to get coins back.

Item servers
Certain servers are dedicated to distributing free items and coins, placed in automatically-refilling chests. These items and coins can be taken freely. Some servers also grant you access to free command of every items in the game.

TShock server
Instead of using the dedicated server software that ships with Terraria, you can set up a more powerful and advanced server up with TShock. As an admin, you can give yourself free items through Item IDs.

World Edit Tools
World edit tools, like TEdit or some other tool, is easy to add or manipulate coins.

Terrasavr Inventory Editor
Using inventory editors such as Terrasavr can be a way to get money for experimental purposes.

Item Duplication with TerrariaServer

 * 1. Place the item(s) you want to dupe in a chest in a world (can be any world, it wont affect the items in it afterwards) and exit the world, but not the game.
 * 2. Run  (can be found in  ).
 * will open the TerrariaServer console window, but it won't close the console window every time you exit like  does.
 * 3. In the TerrariaServer console window, select the world where you stored the item(s) you wish to dupe.
 * 4. In the Terraria game, join multiplayer game and type  in the ip page.
 * 5. Take all the items you want to duplicate using your character (do not exit the world).
 * 6. In the TerrariaServer console window, type  (it disconnects your character but doesn't save the world, so your items will still be as it was before you loaded the world).
 * 7. In the Terraria game, go to a world and unload all your duplicated items, and exit the world.
 * Repeat steps to do it over and over again. This only works if you are the server host, it won't work on anyone else's world.

Magic Mirror Duplication
Note: Doesn't work if you're the host.

Note: Items have a chance of disappearing.

First, in your inventory highlight the coin(s) you want to duplicate. Then, exit out of your inventory. After that has been done, you use the magic mirror and while the screen turns black, you pull up your inventory and pick up the coin(s).

An easier method of duplication if timing is a problem is to turn auto-save off in settings and toss the coins out at spawn, go off the server, re-enter, pick up the coins, and save manually, and repeat until the satisfactory amount is reached.

Exit+Rejoin
Note: To make it easier, be the host.

Note: Does not work with a piggy bank/safe.
 * 1) Put the items you need in a chest, then save the game.
 * 2) Turn autosave off.
 * 3) Leave the game without saving.
 * 4) Go back into the world you were in, and take the items and loot from the chest.
 * 5) Exit without saving again.
 * 6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 as needed.

This is expected to duplicate the item, as it will be in the player's inventory and chest at the same time.

Note: No longer works as of the 1.2.4 update.

Exit+Rejoin 2.0
Note: Doesn't work if you're the host.

Note: Requires either online multiplayer or a second controller and account.

Note: Will work with multiple players.

Note: It can be extremely slow.

First, gather the items you want to duplicate, and give them to the other player. Make sure they have autosave off, and they save with the items in their inventory. (WARNING: Doing the previous part the other way around (saving without the items, exiting when you have them) will not duplicate and instead DELETE the items!) Then, have them give you back the items. Next, they have to exit the game without saving, then rejoin. You and them will have the items and their amounts, doubling the amount you both have. And You can use this trick for almost every item.

Depending on what items you duplicating, you can sell them for a lot of money.

Exit+Rejoin 2.1
Note: You will need 2 players.

Place a chest, and turn autosave off. Have a second player join with autosave on. Put the amount of money to be duplicated into any chest, then save the game. After the game finishes saving, have the second player leave the game, then have the host leave WITHOUT SAVING. Then, have both players rejoin. The money would still be in the chest, and in the second player's inventory. Have the second player take the money, leave the game, then have the host leave the game without saving again. Repeat until the wanted amount is reached.

Every after duplicating, put the duplicates in the chest you're using, then save the game, take all the money, & have the second player leave and the host leave without saving. Then have both of them rejoin, and then have the second player put the new duplicates in the chest and then save it. And then take the money. then have the host leave the game. Repeat until the wanted amount is reached.

The money can also be replaced by any item you like to be duplicated.

Chest/World Save Copying
Note: Requires 2 locations to save, works vise-versa (character save copying), and Super tedious.

Like the Desktop versions of Terraria, the world saves and the character inventory saves are separate. To do this, Place a chest, and put the amount of money you want to duplicate into the chest and save both hard drives (you may need to copy it into the 2nd hard drive). Place the items into your character's inventory, and save and exit the game entirely. Go into the system setting and access storage. Copy the world save from the 2nd hard drive into the 1st. Collect duplicated items. Repeat until the wanted amount is reached.

2-Player Duplication
Note: Items have a chance for disappearing.

Get the item you want to duplicate into a chest. Get one of your friends to join your world. You must get into the chest first, then your friend can open it. Place the item you want to duplicate into the chest. Select the item and press "Take" at the same time. Make sure both you and your friend have the item in their inventories. You can take the item and leave, or you can continue duplicating by placing the items back the the chest ONE AT A TIME! Otherwise, the item may un-duplicate.

Note: This method of duplication will only work if you are the host and someone else joins your world.

Character Backups
By far one of the easiest methods of duplication is backing up characters. Just make sure you have the items to be duplicated in your inventory or Safe/Piggy Bank, then backup the character. With the backed-up character, deposit the items in a Chest, delete the backup, and use the original character to take the items. You now have 2 copies of the original items. Just be warned: Do not enter and exit worlds too fast, or this could corrupt world files on some devices. Make sure to wait around 3 seconds before clicking a world when using this method.

Not Consuming
Equip a armor with a set bonus such as Shroomite armor and place the coins you want to duplicate, then mine all the coins. You might have more than you had before.