Coins
Coins are the true power source in the city. A vampire armed with Surprise and Thievery(3) will be nearly unstoppable in coin acquisition - and these coins cannot be taken away once banked, and it is easy to minimise chances of losing them.
Blood, on the other hand, wanes easily, cannot be secured, and cannot get a vampire very far, other than perhaps the illusion of prestige, and some maximum action points more.
For completion's sake, it should be noted that there is no such thing as 'organised thieving'. It doesn't exist in a world where money is withdrawn and an item bought in less than a minute. Note that this doesn't stop people from camping around discount shops hoping to steal from the unwitting in those few seconds of motion, but how effective an AP use this is has always been debatable, even before Raven changed his code so that refreshing would eventually deplete your action points. It's a question of playing style and a bit of faith. You should stick to whatever you feel works for you.
List of items and services one can buy
Buy:
Charisma effects and non-flower gifts omitted for brevity.
1 coins: Beer
2 coins: House Ale
5 coins: House Wine, Transit Fare
10 coins: Brandy
15 coins: Scotch
25 coins: 1 pint @ a Necromancer
40 coins: Vintage Wine
35 coins: Perfect Dandelion @ a Discount store
50 coins: Perfect Dandelion, Blood Wine
100 coins: Blood
105 coins: Sprint Potion @ a Discount store
150 coins: Sprint Potion
350 coins: Scroll of Turning @ a Discount store, Perfect Red Rose @ a Discount store
500 coins: Scroll of Turning, Perfect Red Rose
525 coins: Scroll of Succour @ a Discount store
700 coins: Garlic Spray @ a Discount store, Perfect Black Orchid @ a Discount store, Scroll of Displacement @ a Discount store
750 coins: Scroll of Succour
1 000 coins: Garlic Spray, Perfect Black Orchid, Scroll of Displacement, Shadows(1), Stamina(1)
1 050 coins: Scrolls of Summoning @ a Discount store
1 400 coins: Holy Water @ a Discount store
1 500 coins: Locate(1), Scrolls of Summoning
2 000 coins: Holy Water, BattleCloak (remember, though, removing it is far more costly), Shadows(2), Thievery(1)
2 500 coins: Stamina(2), Telepathy(1)
3 500 coins: Scroll of Accounting @ a Discount store, Scroll of Teleportation @ a Discount store
4 000 coins: Celerity(1), Locate(2), Shadows(3)
5 000 coins: Scroll of Accounting, Scroll of Teleportation, Stamina(3), Telepathy(2), Thievery(2)
7 500 coins: Perception, Suction
8 000 coins: Celerity(2)
10 000 coins: Thievery(3), Telepathy(3), Neutrality(1), Neutrality(2), Neutrality(3)
11 000 coins: Safety Deposit Box (Key)
15 000 coins: Locate(3)
17 500 coins: Celerity(3)
20 000 coins: Surprise
50 000 coins: BattleCloak one-time removal
Sell:
25 coins: Flower: Perfect Dandelion
75 coins: Sprint Potion
250 coins: Scroll of Turning, Flower: Perfect Red Rose
375 coins: Scroll of Succour
500 coins: Flower: Perfect Black Orchid, Garlic Spray, Scroll of Displacement, Vial of Holy Water
750 coins: Scrolls of Summoning
2 500 coins: Scroll of Accounting, Scroll of Teleportation