Pounds

Overview
Pounds are the currency of the British Empire. With them, you can purchase every item a vendor sells (from food, to weapons, to tools).

How to obtain them
Pounds can be obtained in different ways:
 * Selling items to vendors, though you'll get only 50% of the item's value.
 * Finishing contracts for NPCs
 * Enlist in the HBC to gain access to the company budget: you can claim items only in the HBC quartermaster, and only one of each item without spending any of your personal money
 * Get bounties of criminals, killing them, then dragging their body to a bounty board.