Serah's Cointree

Listen carefully! For I was told by them who knows...
In a time long gone; before the sky fell and fire rained from on high; before the ground turned to ice beneath a cloud of dust, the world was green and lush.
Wondrous creatures roamed free in the world, and marvelous plants grew tall, and hardy. Flowers serene; aroma so sweet, so airy, the honeybees were chasing away the wee, naughty, garden fairies.
Eventually came the Times of Toil, and society at large. Cities grew, then, as people sought the safety of numbers. And these people traded in gold and silver, as opposed to the barter system in general use prior to this time. 
Then, a nobleman was born. He grew in stature and wit, indeed! It was not long before he was murdering his father to succeed him on his seat of wealth and power. He took over the family business immediately after the funeral of his father, at which people cried and looked at him askew. The man on high now claimed the meaningless title of 'Broker', a thing he had been craving for at least four of his sixteen years. He now owned farms, and castles, and forests and rivers and trees. Everywhere he looked, any place he could see, was technically owned by him. And so, he began hoarding gold and silver. Gems were not discarded by any means! But the lustre of gold was lustful for him.
And yet even with food of a plenty, and getting long in the tooth, the broker needed ever more coin to soothe him. He pondered, and thought, and he peered at his pile, thoughts of profit and loss clouding his head all the while. Wife, had he! And son, to boot! Yet wife and kin would never see the love he lavished upon his money. His gems were always twinkling in his imagination; his coins always sparkling in his mind's eye, and through thick and thin all he would try was to work even harder, and bring in more cash, and pile it away in a well-ordered cache. A daughter, soon followed, and his wife left this world as she gave birth to a fine and strong baby girl.
The daughter grew older, of course, as did son. The father, it seemed, just got colder, and dumb, and speechlessly recorded weekly his sums. The pile grew larger, until finally the old man could gather no more; for he had it all. Long did he ponder his dilemma. Far did his thoughts reach. Then finally he found it. He knew what to do!
Taking his toddler girl by the hand, he walked with her singing through the mists toward the Fae land. When finally he got there, he met up with a crone. A crone he had summoned with goats blood and pigeon bones. His daughter did scream, at first, her father pondered, as she grew branches and leaves in the Fae lands' mist. An oak tree, she became; a mighty oak of the forest. And ever richer he became, a mighty ruler on high! For the secret to wealth is to be the one who makes the money. For two days he gloated, elated and gleeful; and then, friends, his heart stopped, and the crone stole his soul. He died friendless, alone, but for his piles of money, much of which he'd buried round his family's property.
Where the treasure cache lies is not known for certain, my friends. All we know is that it was somewhere near the old Cointree Ranch. But if you ever do find her, there's a coin for the asking each night at moon rise...from the Girl in the Cointree Oak!
And there you have it, youngsters. The story can get much more complicated, but that is the gist of it for sure.

Summary

TL/DR: A miserly man sacrificed his only daughter, in a deal with a Night Hag, in order to become a king who could mint his own coins, with his own face upon them, and collect them as trophies more dear to him than any child. The girl was transmogrified into a mighty oak of the forest in a painful sacrificial ritual.

Historical Basis

The evidence of an actual "money tree" is quite slim, indeed...however, it is there! Several woodsmen from that area of Craysilt's Crichton Forest have risen to the nobility unexpectedly, and quite ding many to suspect they had come across the mythical Cointree of Crichton. In 5412NG, researchers from the world famous paralegal department of that most prominent of all schools, The Bardic College Campus, discovered an interesting document that just did not make any sense. It was a jumble of letters that formed no comprehensible words. But, one of the lucky discoverers also happened to be an amatuer cryptologist; a hobby he had picked up when he was a freshman. The jumble of letters roiled around on the ancient piece of paper for him, suddenly arranging themselves into two rows, one over the other, letters lining up, just nine characters to the left...

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Spread

This myth is relatively localized, as it concerns local folks and local history. However, It is recorded on a psi crystal at that world famous institution of learning and higher education, The Bardic College Campus, in the Parahistory department.

Variations & Mutation

In some cases, the father is an evil stepdad; or there is no dad at all, and it was the mom who sacrificed the girl...but all of them...all of them, have the girl being sacrificed and turned into a tree. Some say maple, or birch, but most of the time she becomes a mighty oak.

Cultural Reception

It is widely taken as a 'wives tale', or parable. "Money doesn't really grow on trees, Gretchen! That's just a story! Hard work and persistence are the key young lady!

In Literature

While the myth itself is relatively localized, it is referenced in literature the world around in children's tales and sagas.

In Art

Gerhardt von Zinselwaffen's seminal piece, The Golden Oak, depicts the cointree as it was in his imagination. The piece has become a collector's item, and is worth quite a few gold coins itself. The painting (oil on canvas) is displayed in the Old Keep in Craysilt.