So...apparently NPCs only take exact change.

[Baelinn]

Hey there - unfortunately I think you'll need to redo the quest. This being an old game, there are lots of things that aren't very user friendly... that quest is one of them.

NPCs don't really have a "memory" in EverQuest beyond a few seconds (minutes?) So they won't remember you handed this stuff in previously.

I'm sure it's difficult to eat a loss like that early on. Just remember it's not much gold in the long run... you'll be earning much more than that in a few levels.