A barter system would do well in a game like this, where you offer to make a pair of Horse Shoes for John who must ride into town to sell item X, in return he’ll give you cash/ item X. Or George the hunter will trade you fur/meat for some arrow heads.
It allows the player to get what he needs without the complete reliance on a currency and some of these deals could become almost regular, e.g. supply the carpenter with nails on a weekly basis for a bottle of milk from his cow, or completely random, such as repairing a mysterious man’s chainmail, to find out he’s a wanted criminal and repairing it meant a local Lordcouldn’t land a deadly blow and was killed himself (that escalated a little sorry).
It would build a sense of community, where everyone relies on each other, and you on them, and your actions had consequences.
As a side note, i believe being a blacksmith would be quite a full-time job, so maybe you should be able to hire and train up an apprentice? Making you money while you go exploring and keeping those that rely on your trade happy.
Any other ideas on these topics?