Currency and values
Created by Second Mate Quinton Beck on Mon Apr 10th, 2017 @ 3:04am
Gold-pressed latinum (GPL from here forward, to save some typing) actually comes in different denominations. There are (in increasing order):
Slips
Strips. 100 slips = 1 strip.The strips seem to be the ones visually represented in Quark's when people actually handle money -- buy drinks, play dabo, etc.
Bars (the most commonly mentioned one) = 20 strips = 2,000 slips.
There are also occasional mentions of larger quantities such as "bricks", "cases", and of GPL by weight (kilograms, etc.), but exchange rates for those are unknown.
To try and work toward a real-world exchange rate, I did some "shopping" on the Star Trek wiki Memory Alpha, which pulls in specific episode references to latinum. I'll use items that can roughly correspond to real-world items:
A spin of the dabo wheel is usually 1 strip
Nog's cadet uniform from Garak's was 5 strips
A dabo girl receives 14 strips on payday (though is that a daily rate or something else?)
A dress (also from Garak's) was 17-20 strips
The garments probably present the easiest basis for a comparison, So let's say a uniform is $50 and a fancy dress is $200. I'll concede I'm erring a little on the side of giving myself round numbers to work with, but it at least puts us in the right ballpark and starts narrowing the order of magnitude. That pegs a strip at $10. Does that jibe with the other values on that list? That would mean a spin of the dabo wheel starts at $10 -- sounds like reasonable casino stakes at Atlantic City or Vegas --- and Quark's dabo girls make $140 per... shift, probably? That seems a little cheap, but this is Quark we're talking about, and maybe that's a base wage and they earn tips on the side like casino dealers or waitresses/bartenders do. That has some rough internal consistency and means: 1 strip = $10 1 slip = $0.10 1 bar = $200
Thus, when Quark drools over a bar of GPL, he's just all about the (Space) Benjamins.
Federation Credits- If it can be replicated, it can be purchased with Energy credits. Many societies prefer dealing in non replicated and non dematerialized goods. Credits are not accepted outside of Federation space, exceptions for their Allies using Federation kiosks. Credits also purchase things like holodeck time, advanced tools and equipment and transit. The only worthwhile measure of a Credits worth is by what it will buy in Replicator power or provide in fuel utility.
Slips
Strips. 100 slips = 1 strip.The strips seem to be the ones visually represented in Quark's when people actually handle money -- buy drinks, play dabo, etc.
Bars (the most commonly mentioned one) = 20 strips = 2,000 slips.
There are also occasional mentions of larger quantities such as "bricks", "cases", and of GPL by weight (kilograms, etc.), but exchange rates for those are unknown.
To try and work toward a real-world exchange rate, I did some "shopping" on the Star Trek wiki Memory Alpha, which pulls in specific episode references to latinum. I'll use items that can roughly correspond to real-world items:
A spin of the dabo wheel is usually 1 strip
Nog's cadet uniform from Garak's was 5 strips
A dabo girl receives 14 strips on payday (though is that a daily rate or something else?)
A dress (also from Garak's) was 17-20 strips
The garments probably present the easiest basis for a comparison, So let's say a uniform is $50 and a fancy dress is $200. I'll concede I'm erring a little on the side of giving myself round numbers to work with, but it at least puts us in the right ballpark and starts narrowing the order of magnitude. That pegs a strip at $10. Does that jibe with the other values on that list? That would mean a spin of the dabo wheel starts at $10 -- sounds like reasonable casino stakes at Atlantic City or Vegas --- and Quark's dabo girls make $140 per... shift, probably? That seems a little cheap, but this is Quark we're talking about, and maybe that's a base wage and they earn tips on the side like casino dealers or waitresses/bartenders do. That has some rough internal consistency and means: 1 strip = $10 1 slip = $0.10 1 bar = $200
Thus, when Quark drools over a bar of GPL, he's just all about the (Space) Benjamins.
Federation Credits- If it can be replicated, it can be purchased with Energy credits. Many societies prefer dealing in non replicated and non dematerialized goods. Credits are not accepted outside of Federation space, exceptions for their Allies using Federation kiosks. Credits also purchase things like holodeck time, advanced tools and equipment and transit. The only worthwhile measure of a Credits worth is by what it will buy in Replicator power or provide in fuel utility.
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