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."

Problem?

[le0p]

Solution: Problem, where are you?

Pleased to meet you, Solution.

[grahamd0]

Hi, I'm the fact your $20M trip to space only costs one lump sum of $20M. I'm wishing that, in addition, you would be charged in some way for each of your vacuum-sealed meals and packets of Tang. I'm wishing that different modules in the space station and future space hotels would charge admission. I'm wishing there was a way for these goals to be achieved that would cost you outrageous sums of money that you could never get back, even if you didn't use them, yet still seemed to be value-added products and

Re:Pleased to meet you, Solution.

[no_pets]

No kidding. It's only a matter of time before there are free trips to space -- with an (even more) expensive return ticket in addition to all of the nickel and dime (QUID?) expenses along the way. I bet an "I went to outer space and all I got was this T-shirt" novelty tee would get a cool million.

Re:Problem?

[Chris Burke]

Yeah, no kidding. And besides, I had to read the title like 5 times before I stopped parsing it as "Space MONKEY invented for Space Tourists", and while I didn't know how one "invents" a monkey, I did think this would be a great thing that space tourists would greatly appreciate.

But just some money? Sounds more like gift shop tokens. If you can't use QUIDs to buy a Space Monkey, then I predict they will fail.

Round edges....

[SnoopJeDi]

The QUID is made of a space-qualified plastic, with round edges to prevent injuries in zero gravity.

What the hell is wrong with paper currency? 0g paper-cuts?

That said, sounds frivolous and unimportant, albeit kind've a cool subject.

Re:Round edges....

[icebrain]

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?

Re:Round edges....

[Anonymous Crowhead]

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?

Just wait. In a few months, there will be an article about how there are RFIDs in each QUID and the Slashbots will go apeshit.

Re:

[MSTCrow5429]

That's like asking how can you counterfeit counterfeit paper money.

Re:Round edges....

[CastrTroy]

Many countries actually use plastic money [wikipedia.org]. I'm pretty sure it's harder to counterfeit than traditional paper money.

Re:Round edges....

[jimstapleton]

That's one of his many errors, to my knowledge, I've yet to see a coin with a sharp edge. At least, not in the US.

What kind of crack is the guy who said coins have sharp edges smoking? Or is their some country where they do have sharp-edged coins.

Another? Oh, as for credit. There are these things called "bar codes" - believe it or not, they are not magnetic!

Re:

[zippthorne]

Not to mention.. where did they get clear Teflon?

Re:Round edges....

[HTH NE1]

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.

Re:Round edges....

[Red Flayer]

Or is their some country where they do have sharp-edged coins.

Well, I always file down the edges of my dimes so that they are razor-sharp.

This is to "reward" the shoddy customer service I sometimes get at the checkout lane.

It has the added benefit of putting the offending cashier on disability for a while, so that I don't have to deal with them again for a few weeks until they heal.

Re:

[wizardforce]

except that in spacecraft, small free-floating objects are choke hazards.

Re:Round edges....

[norminator]

The QUID is made of a space-qualified plastic, with round edges to prevent injuries in zero gravity.

What the hell is wrong with paper currency? 0g paper-cuts?

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.

Re:Round edges....

[rubycodez]

the main problem with the space wire transfers is that every three to four days the wires get all wound up around the equator and if someone forgets to unwind and untangle them and fling the slack back out sometimes they'll even yank out the other end at the space stations. But there's another invention in the pipe called "space wireless" that'll help alot, traffic congestion can be avoided as long as everyone remembers to not just leave the defaults at "space lynksys" and "galactic channel 6".

Re:

[SnoopJeDi]

I was referring to a sense of relevance. The kind you don't have.

Insensitive clod.

local slang

[User 956]

One QUID is equivalent to about 6.25 pounds

So it's 6 quid per QUID? That sounds confusing.

I was hoping it was going to be...

[kjkeefe]

I was always partial to "Space Bucks"...

PIZZA THE HUT!

Re:local slang

[Greyfox]

Yes, but you have to remember that in space a pound has no weight, only mass. So even though it's 6 quid per QUID, it still won't be a pound, much less six. It may still mass 3 kilos, however...

Re:

[davidsyes]

Oh, quiddit...

I was going to suggest quatloos:

Quasi-Universally-Accepted transaction-logistics-organized ....o-something

Re:

[Red Flayer]

Ah, you're using Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination (QUID).

Those of us from more civilized galaxies use Quasi Universal Intergalactic Money (QUIM).

IIRC, last time I was on Eroticon III, Eccentrica Gallumbits was charging around 10,000 QUID per 'session', so it'll cost you around 62,500 quid to get a piece of triple-breated QUIM.

Money is a sign of poverty.

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:Money is a sign of poverty.

[User 956]

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.

And they probably don't have cool matching jumpsuits, either.

Re:

[ObjetDart]

Holy missed Iain M. Banks reference, batman!

Yeah, except even Banks had to invent kudos [wikipedia.org] so that an ancient, amazingly advanced race of gas giant inhabitants still had something to exchange for products and services...they didn't have money of course, being so advanced, so they used kudos instead..which worked amazingly like...money.

Re:

[MyLongNickName]

Regardless of what progress is made, then scarcity will ALWAYS be an issue. Even if you can convert energy directly to matter and vica-versa, there will always be a need to assign value to things. The only way money will cease to be useful is if there is no longer any interaction between people.

Re:

[hitmark]

most likely, energy will become the baseline for currency.

or in other words, anything will be valued for its energy potential.

dont tell me noone have played alpha centauri...

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Money is a sign of poverty.

[Applekid]

So, in other words...

1) Solve scarcity
2) ???
3) Not profit?

I'm unsettled by this. Excuse me while go have my lobes stroked.

Re:

[stranger_to_himself]

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.

The scarcity problem can never be solved so long as one person has or can create something unique that another person or more than one preson wants.

That's more of a sign of culture than of poverty.

Are you immortal?

[KalvinB]

As long as you will die some day, time will always be a commodity with value. You don't always have a trinket I want in exchange for my time so I prefer cash that I can give to someone who has a trinket I feel is worth the time of my life it took to pay for.

Money is not a sign of poverty. It's a sign of mortality.

Re:

[mrjb]

The presence of currency is not a sign of poverty/scarcity alone. Above all it is a sign of mortality and decay. Time is money- If I work one hour, I get one hour worth of pay. My time is worth something to me because I am mortal- if I would be immortal, I could invest huge amounts of time in learning how to grow all my own vegetables, how to build my own car, how to refine my own fuel etc. But like most people, I don't have enough time in my life to learn all of that, so I take the shortcut: I exchange my

Re:

[hcdejong]

I'll see your Star Trek-induced optimism, and raise you Greed is eternal

Re:

[HTH NE1]

No sufficiently advanced spacefaring civilisation should be using currency.

Then how would they bilk the primitive populations of alien planets out of whole continents and mining rights without a bunch of space-beads?

Bah.

[Anonymous Coward]

Everyone knows the only true space money is the Interstellar Kredit. Go go ISK!

Re:

[glwtta]

Just what I was thinking.

Star

[torkus]

I'll take Lary Niven's Star currency.

I miss known space.

Tracking the currency

[avij]

FTA:

Each of the orbiting planets will carry a number, like the serial numbers on notes, giving the disc a unique code thus allowing currency to be tracked and helping to prevent counterfeits.

So.. who's going to start a website for tracking those Quids, like Where's George? [wheresgeorge.com] or EuroBillTracker [eurobilltracker.com]? Might be fun..

Re:

[Culture20]

Where was QUID 52379A478B7907E87FEB39C98 today? Earth
Where was QUID 52379A478B7907E87FEB39C98 yesterday? Earth
Where was QUID 52379A478B7907E87FEB39C98 the day before? Earth
.
.
.

Credits

[east coast]

I sold some slaves to the Lesti system not too long ago for 98.2 credits per tonne. I'm now rated as a fugative and your QUIDs are worthless to me since they're only good in the Sol system.

Re:

[MROD]

Surely, you mean Leesti, near Lave?

Re:

[Alioth]

Hi. I'm Officer Murgatroyd of Lave High. Your ship is carrying contraband. Pay a CR600 fine by midnight or your ship will be confiscated.

[ ] Pay fine
[ ] CR25 bribe
[ ] CR50 bribe
[ ] CR100 bribe
[x] CR250 bribe

QUID?

[Otter]

As long as you have the Q and the U, wouldn't "quatloo" be a more appropriate name?

Digital

[skelly33]

Space-faring folk should go digital; even so, the whole concept is beyond ridiculous being that nobody beyond this planet is actually using this. Just stick with American Express.

Re:

[instagib]

1. Float in space - 300,000 $
2. Land on planet - 30,000,000 $
3. Your oxygen is running out, but your AmEx is not accepted at the nearby refill station - Priceless.

Anyone for a wager?

[Sporkinum]

I'll wager 15 quatloos that that QUID will never fly.

Re:

[vjmurphy]

How much is that in cubits?

Re:

[mysticgoat]

Of course the QUID won't fly. At over 6 pounds, it is much too heavy for today's launch vehicles.

I'm telling you, the only sane space currency is one built on a bubble.

Re:

[Drathos]

Sucker bet.. The quid is commonly used in the UK. Has been for some time.

Monetary Units: None

[hitchhacker]

In fact there are three freely convertible currencies in the Galaxy, but none of them count. The Altarian Dollar has recently collapsed, the Flainian Pobble Bead is only exchangeable for other Flainian Pobble Beads, and the Triganic Pu has its own very special problems. It exchange rate of eight Ningis to one Pu is simple enough, but since Ningi is a triangular rubber coin six thousand eight hundred miles along each side, no one has ever collected enough to own one Pu. Nigis are not negotiable currency, because Galactibanks refuse to deal in fiddling small change. From this basic premise it is very simple to prove that the Galactibanks are also the product of a deranged imagination.

-metric

Good thing it's meant for space

[Billosaur]

One QUID is equivalent to about 6.25 pounds...

Fortunately, when you're in orbit, it won't weigh anything... you'll still have to look out for the inertia though...

scale

[Scrameustache]

I can't be the only geek here annoyed by the casual use of intergalactic. We haven't even made one interplanetary trip yet, so interstellar is still far, far away, and intergalactic isn't even in the realm of conceivable projects!

Re:

[amRadioHed]

They had to scope it beyond our galaxy since no one in our galaxy has a use for it.

Re:

[justin12345]

I agree, calling this currency intergalactic might be called hubris.

So, what's it worth in Altarian Dollars?

[MROD]

Or what about Triganic Pu?

After all the Galactic Bank doesn't deal in piddling small change.

Stupid Tags

[pembo13]

Can we remove the tagging system? Or moderate the people who put the idiotic tags?

Re:Stupid Tags

[chuck]

User prefs. I haven't seen a tag since two days after they were introduced.

What's the mass?

[reality-bytes]

If one of those 'QUIDS' has a mass of 10g and you want to take 10 'quid' with you on 'holiday'.

That 10 'quid' (worth £62.50), if launced on the STS would cost £240 to get to LEO due to their additional mass.

Therefore, if you used this new currency, to actually get that money (£62.50) on orbit would cost you over £300 extra.

Disclaimer: E&OE, YMMV, IANARS, My ability to perform basic mathematics is inversely proportional to the amount of alcohol I have consumed.

Re:

[geekoid]

No it wouldn't. In all practical ways you would use the same amount of fuel in either case. Becasue you don't take 'just enough' for what you are lifting.

How many Schrute Bucks is that?

[Loco3KGT]

Stanley Nickels?

Physcial Money?

[Easy2RememberNick]

A physical representation of money seems to be a backward idea for space travelers, shouldn't space money be virtual?

Re:

[pembo13]

no... why?

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Credits are not a currency

[iamacat]

It's a concept of sortof-but-not-quite communist Federation. To buy the good stuff, you need to first obtain some hard currency, such as gold-plated latinum.

Re:

[geekoid]

Currency does not need to be backed by anything. The users just need to say x amount is worth X in goods. You can create complete currency systems in a vacuum.

My very firs software job was writing a smart card system. By accident we made it so a bank wasn't needed.

Your pay went directly on your smart card, and then you could buy stuff with that pay...which that merchant used to pay people. You see the circle.

Yeah...we got a call from an irate bank owner, and we changed it so only the bank could put credits

cash????? Idiots.

[rubycodez]

these idiots think there will be need or even possiblity for anonymous money transactions in the next 50 years in space? In space, everyone will know who you are, because you'll be one of less than a hundred there at an enormous expense! If anything in the range of $0 to $1,000 is bought or sold out there, simple biometric check and existing credit system on earth is sufficient. But really, someone is going to pay hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of USD to go to a "space hotel" and then have to b

PR exercise.

[gihan_ripper]

Hasn't anyone rumbled that this is just a PR exercise for Travelex? Plus I'm sure it's given a little extra spending cash to the academics involved.

The Future Is Still Money?!

[kitsunewarlock]

Psh. I was hoping we could exchange goods and services with things like youtube external links, myspace mass friend invites and wikipedia article additions...

While I'm at it:

Spacesuits: $1,200 each.
Oxygen recharge: $3.22 per gallon.
Farting in your space suit while you and your cheap-ass buddy share an airtank; priceless.

There's somethings your national currency can't buy. For everything else, there's QUIDS.

Very original...

[Piedramente]

I believe the term quid already exists for currency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quid [wikipedia.org] I wonder where they came up with this new space currency??

Its Flooz but it is in Space!

[jellomizer]

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.

Re:

[mcmonkey]

If you had posted this yesterday when I had the points, you'd get a +1 insightful.

Oblig. HHGTTG Reference

[Sentry21]

Monetary Units: None. In fact there are three freely convertible currencies in the Galaxy, but none of them count. The Altairian Dollar has recently collapsed, the Flainian Pobble Bead is only exchangable for other Flainian Pobble Beads, and the Trigantic Pu has its own very special problems. Its exchange rate of eight Nighis to one Pu is simple enough, but since a Ningi is a triangular rubber coin six thousand eight hundred miles along each side, no one has ever collected enough to own one Pu. Ningis are not negotiable currencies, because the Galactibanks refuse to deal in fiddling small change. From this basic premise it is very simple that Glactibanks are also the products of a deranged imagination.

value vs. promises

[drDugan]

Please, for the love of all things healthy in the Universe, we need to get back to money being denominations of value, not denominations of promises (notes). Whoever does create the de-facto intergalactic standard for currency would be better off convincing people to conduct trade with promises, but the people who use it are much better off with items that translate to real value (just like everyone else today).

Re:

[geekoid]

And it works.
So what's your point?

frist currency?

[choongiri]

It is the first currency of its kind in the universe

What makes you so sure, hmmmm?

Credit Cards?

[DarthVain]

I don't know what is more funny: The fact that so many people remember what Quatloos are, or that no one has yet mentioned good old Gold Pressed Latinum.

Also, what they don't take VISA or Matercard up there? I though they took VISA everywhere? Not even Amex? Dinner's Club? Surely it would be more efficient to take ONE piece of plastic up there than a pocket full.

Plastic Toy Rocket - 12$
In flight meal - 320$
Flight Suit - 12,000$
Rocket Trip - 20,000,000
Realizing that it doesn't include accommodations on the

Just like a HUmna

[geekoid]

to create a currency and call it 'intergalactic'
Sheesh..don't even get me started on their 'Universe Series' baseball.

Oxygen

[GrEp]

Wouldn't grams of oxygen be a little harder currency?

Monopoly money

[flyingfsck]

The Monopoly board game seems to hold the patent on useless money. Chocolate coins would be more popular I would think.

A bad idea

[mattr]

This is so dumb. It costs so much money to move the currency, which is manufactured on Earth, up into space! Although it would be funnier if they looked like poker chips. Could be soft too.

But if you get a lot of money, you might have a lower chance of survival due to the lost delta-V. Although you could indeed throw the money away from you to build up a vector.

Everyone knows you need galactic credits, and you can exchange them with digital wallets that verify your identity. Those of course are way too heav

Re:

[chuck]

But if you get a lot of money, you might have a lower chance of survival due to the lost delta-V. Although you could indeed throw the money away from you to build up a vector.

And then a whole community of indentured servants will worship you, and sing songs about you, and build a statue!

Spacewhat!?

[JamesTRexx]

Anybody else felt dyslexic and read Space monkey invented for space tourists?

Who the hell wants to start a zoo in orbit?

What a shame

[John Meacham]

They took the time to design a new monetary format and didn't even make it based on a Balanced Ternary [wikipedia.org] system. Balanced ternary cash would be quite nice, it would mean almost always having the exact change, you only need one coin of each denomination to ensure you can make change for any possible transaction among other nice qualities.

Her Maj

[turgid]

It'd better have a painting of Lix on it.

Wait...Not so fast.

[turgid]

I meant Liz.

And while we're at it, "Gronda gronda, your Majesty!"

Space Monkey?

[SnarfQuest]

Did anyone else misread this as Space Monkey Invented For Space Tourists?

It caused some very strange thoughts about how a Space Monkey would be used.

The UK campaign to keep the Quid (not the QUID)

[itsdapead]

One QUID is equivalent to about 6.25 pounds, 12.50 dollars

Except in any Travelex the Microsoft Star Empire, the Adobe Quadrant or the iTunes Confederacy where they will sell you a QUID for 12.50 pounds...

On any British run outer space trading posts we should use the Basic Unit of Cosmological (oh, damn) Kurrency so we can confuse the Americans for a change...

(Note for USAians: "quid" is fairly universal slang for "1 pound" in the UK so its a bloody stupid name for a new currency. Not to be confused w

Missing information

[Technician]

I found very little info on if these will break down in a solar wind, how long they will last on Mecury or if they are at risk of shattering in the cold temperature of Pluto. Is there any chance of damage in the sandstorms on Mars? From what they are made out of, I would think they may do somewhat OK in minor temperature extremes, but against highly abrasive wind blown dust, I would worry as I know how easy it is to scratch my cookware when I use metal utensils.

Re:Goddamnit

[BobGregg]

>>Why not "credit"?!?

Because it isn't a cool acronym. Cool acronyms always make things cooler. Just look at what "AJAX" did for - uh, AJAX.

Easily remedied though:

CALCULATED
RATE of
EXCHANGE
DENOMINATION for
INTERPLANETARY
TRAVELERS

There - CREDIT. That oughtta just about do it. Lot better than QUID, to be sure...

Re:

[revlayle]

no mod points :( because you just got +5 from me... at least in my mind

Re:Goddamnit

[Krupuk]

A science fiction term needs the word "space" somewhere in there.

What about "Space Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination"?

Re:

[will_die]

You create your own currency and you can set your exchange rate.

Re:

[saterdaies]

Sort of.

Really, what is stopping the company behind QUID from offering 6.25 pounds for every QUID? Nothing. So long as you can forever exchange them for 6.25 pounds, a QUID will be worth that much. The only hitch comes when the company says that they will not take your QUID back and give you 6.25 pounds for it.

Say, for example, that I'm behind the QUID. You order 5 QUID from me and I charge you 31.25 pounds. I can take that 31.25 pounds and stick it in a vault and anytime you wish to cash out, I will h

Re:

[Stormwatch]

He made it, he can sell for as much as he wants.

Will anyone buy it? Now that's a different question.

ningies to Shrute Bucks?

[norminator]

What's the ratio of ningies to Shrute Bucks? How about ningies to Stanley Nickels?

Re:

[Xentor]

Isn't it three ningies to one pew? But since a ningy is a triangular coin _______ miles to a side (Hey, I don't have the number memorized), no one has ever collected enough ningies to own one pew. Ningies are not negotiable currency, because the intergalactic banks refuse to deal in piddling small change.

Re:

[HTH NE1]

I want my quatloos!

Quatloos are brain cells. (What else would a bunch of disembodied brains wager with?)

Urgent Space Request

[neapolitan]

Dear Sir:

Greetings from the Highest General of the Counsel of Intergalactic Planetary Commerce Exchange. I am Sir Zaphod Centauri, esteemed chairman of the Counsel of Planets. I have a business proposal for you that may be of most benefit to both of us. Forgive me for contacting you over subspace, but Colonel Zimrohn expressed you will be reliable, and I ask you to hold this in utmost confidence.

On Stardate 92714.3, the King of the United Saturnalia perished unexpectedly in a teleportation tragedy. He left in our accounts sum of NINETY-TWO TRILLION SEVEN HUNDRED EIGHT BILLION Quasi Universal Intergalactic Demoniations (QUID) which can not be accessed except by a native of the Milky Way. As of now this money sits unclaimed in our starbank.

I would like you to act as Earth fiduciary for this money. Please send your STARBANK number via encrypted link to me so that I may transfer this QUID to you. As agent for this transaction you will receive 10% of QUID in your account.

Please contact me at your most urgent communication, only over encrypted subspace link.

Yours sincerely,

Zaphod Centauri

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd love to help. Can you break a ningi?

Re:Urgent Space Request

[Mr. Underbridge]

Don't have an account myself, but I know an Englishman who might find your offer interesting. Name's Arthur - good chap but a little daft. Haven't seen him for ages myself; living in a cave last I saw. Not sure what his liquidity situation is.

Regards,
Ford