Economy
Economy is a new gameplay mechanic added to Assassin's Creed II and is a major part of the game.
Function
Florins
Money, or Florins (f ) in Assassin's Creed II, are an important part of the Assassin's Creed economic system. You can obtain Florins by completing story missions, Assassination Contracts, upgrading your villa, looting treasure chests and dead bodies, or pickpocketing civilians.
Obtaining Florins gives you a wide range of abilities. For instance, it gives you the ability to buy and repair armor and weapons. Upgrading your armor and weapons can provide you with better resistance to attacks or give you better bonuses to do more damage. You can use your acquired Florins to hire people throughout Italy to distract or kill enemies. You can also buy medicine, poison, paintings and treasure maps (both increases value of the villa), or pouches for medicine, poison and throwing knifes, as you see fit.
You can also "equip" the Throw Coins, which is fairly self-explanatory: you toss a handful of florins, which attracts greedy people and distracts guards and targets alike.
Be advised, however, as thieves can steal from you without you noticing. If you see a red marker moving through your mini map, you have been stolen from. You will have to tackle or kill the thief in order to get back your money.
Armor and Weapons
Most armor and weapons in the game need to be bought from a Blacksmith. Exceptions include Altaïr's Armor, the Hidden Blades and upgrades(provided by Leonardo da Vinci), and the first 2 swords Ezio uses. Aside from purchasing armor and weapons, they also sell ammunition and provide repairing services for broken armor.
Combat Skills
Training for long weapons, two-handed weapons and ranged weapons need to be bought with money. This is paid to the trainers at the Auditore Villa at Monteriggioni.
Auditore Family Villa
A prominent building in Monteriggioni, the Auditore Villa was built by Dominico Auditore (Ezio's great, great grandfather). It features a large Assassin logo in a fountain near the stairs to the villa. The villa and the city of Monteriggioni are introduced to the player in a state of disrepair, with many buildings in poor condition. Mario explains that he has neither the time nor the money to fix up the place. The villa is not directly upgraded, but is cleaned up along with Monteriggioni as Ezio spends money on renovations and upgrades to the small city.
Any money spent on Monteriggioni increases its value. The city has a higher income as Ezio upgrades it. This money is available to Ezio in the chest behind where Claudia sits. Being the landlord of Monteriggioni, Ezio is entitled to discounts at the stores in the city.