Gold coinage was absolutely a thing for most of the European history, up until the mid 1800s in fact, although it was not continous in its usage for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, gold was never used as a single, lone currency (unlike the TES games for example and more like WoW's mixed currency of gold, silver and copper). It was virtually always accompanied by smaller value coins minted in other metals, mainly silver.During the reforms made by Augustus (63 B.C. - 14 AD) at the beginning of Rome's Imperial period, coinage was reorganized and set in a precise system of equivalence, where the gold coin (named aureus) was set to be worth 25 silver denarii (sing. denarius) and 100 copper sestertii. In this particular instance, gold coins began to circulate more often, although silver was much more common given its greater availability.

However, after the end of the Western Empire and the transition towards the Early Middle Ages, gold coinage in the West was lost. Mainly for the lack of an authority capable to organize (and most importantly, retrieve) raw materials for gold coinage as the Roman Imperial government did, and the scarce availability of gold in the first place, which in this period came from North African regions and other Muslim-controlled areas. As such, only Byzantium and the Caliphate were able to keep minting gold coins for most of the Early Middle Ages. Both the nomisma and dinar were virtually "international" currencies accepted throughout the Mediterranean.

With the Carolingian empire and the reign of Charlemagne (742-814), silver was the staple metal for currency, set once again in a system of equivalences defined by the authority of the king and emperor. For each pound (libra) of silver (approximately 408 g), 240 denarii had to be minted, equalling 20 solidii. Pound (libra, lbs.), solidus (s) and denarius (d). Modern British coinage has been possibly influenced by this system at some point after it came into contact with the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms on the island.

During the XI-XIII century period, within a series of changed such as a renewed usage of trade networks, expansion of cities and others, coinage needed to further expand. Cities minted coins worth multiple denarii, like Genoa who minted a silver coin worth 4 denars in 1176, and Venice, sometime later, creating one worth 24 denars. Gold coins started circulating in this period, when emperor Frederick II (1194-1250) mints his augustalis from 1231, Florence minted his famous florin in 1252 and in France, king st. Louis IX started producing a gold coin as well in 1266.

In conclusion, it was a real thing but not in a continous or lonely fashion.