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Space Money Invented For Space Tourists
An anonymous reader writes "The foreign exchange company Travelex has invented a unit of currency designed to be used in space commerce, the Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination (QUID). The QUID is made of a space-qualified plastic, with round edges to prevent injuries in zero gravity. One QUID is equivalent to about 6.25 pounds, 12.50 dollars or 8.68 Euros. Of course, space currencies are already a staple of science fiction, with 'credits' being the most popular."
No sufficiently advanced spacefaring civilisation should be using currency. The presence of currency means the scarcity problem hasn't been solved by the civilisation, which means they are poor primitives not worth the bother of Contacting.
Paper's flammable (or at least, easier to light than plastic).
My question is: how do you fight counterfeiters with plastic money? Seems like it would be relatively easy to fake, compared to metal or newer paper currencies?
The meek may inherit the earth, but the strong shall take the stars.
As long as you have the Q and the U, wouldn't "quatloo" be a more appropriate name?
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
This reminds me of Flooz an attempt to create a currency for the Internet, as an attempt to cross borders and such.... But the truth is people want their own money either US Dollar, Pound, Euro... They are not going to transfer it for one thing and back again... Especially with those pictures. Heck take paper curancy and put it in your wallet or keep a credit card in your wallet. It is safer there then a bunch of oddly shaped plastic things in your pocket in 0g.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Coins also are conductive, which could short out electronics if they float into a panel being serviced. They're also more likely to do damage if left floating when the vessel undergoes sudden acceleration whereas plastic can deform more readily.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
Actually, why do we need physical money in space at all anyway? Why not just have it be all electronic? Wouldn't this be the true space age, and we're still going to be relying on physical currency? It seems like having your money float away would be more of a problem in 0G than getting cut from sharp edges.
except that in spacecraft, small free-floating objects are choke hazards.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
This entire body of ridiculous nonsense seems to hinge on assumption that there will be no computers in space. What the hell is wrong with you people?
I prefer buckazoids.
Sometimes at night I imagine the darkness is filled with horrible things with too many teeth, like Julia Roberts.
QUID is just as much of an Acronym as yours is for CREDIT.
Quid is British slang for £1. They were just trying to make an acronym to fit the facts like you.
Of course, this may be known to everyone already. If so, then I am getting increasingly redundant and might as well stop typing. But, just in case I'm not just repeating information you already know, I figured I would just inform you about the whole Quid slang thing.
With current launch prices at about $10,000 US per pound for manned missions, that's $625/oz, more than the price of gold until very recently. Carrying a few ounces of "change" up with you would cost you quite a bit more than the £6.25 per QUID. That's only for a LEO launch. Make it "Intergalactic" and it would probably cost more than the entire Earth's economy. Quite an investment!