

A space credit, written with a symbol identical to a dollar sign ($). The Star Trek universe, as Federation credits.The Star Wars universe, as Republic credits.As seen in " The Long Game", a credit is divided into sub-units. A conversion rate is mentioned in the episode " Voyage of the Damned": GB£1,000,000 is equal to that of 50,000,056 credits. In one serial, the currency symbol is a Ƶ. Doctor Who (sometimes specified as Galactic credits).We will live on mars and live our best life that is referred to as 'credits.'" Credits are frequently envisaged as a form of electronic money.

The use of "credits" is particularly common in futuristic settings, so much so that Sam Humphries has pointed it out as a cliché: "In any science-fiction movie, anywhere in the galaxy, basically, when the galaxy ends, everything will too.
Gold pressed latinum to usd series#
Intrinsically valuable currencies are used in the Frank Herbert's Dune universe, the Dungeons & Dragons world of Krynn and the Apprentice Adept series by Piers Anthony. While modern fiat currencies lack intrinsic worth, some fictional currencies are designed to be valuable in their own right. Serviss the world's currency standard must be switched from gold to a mysterious new chemical, artemisium, after the discovery of vast mineral deposits in the Antarctic devalues all known precious metals. Other plot factors can affect the worth of currency, and in The Moon Metal by Garrett P. Wells, inflation may also reduce the value of money, as in The Age of the Pussyfoot by Frederik Pohl. While compound interest may swell small amounts into a fortune, as happens in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and When the Sleeper Wakes by H. The long-term value of currency is an issue in works featuring journeys through time or the elapse of very long periods (for instance due to the deep sleep or cryopreservation of the protagonists). Le Guin's fictional realm of Earthsea, the world's Equilibrium is unbalanced when something is created from nothing. Rowling, magically-created currency is time-limited, while in Ursula K. Money in fantasy fiction faces analagous challenges from the use of magic in the Harry Potter series by J. Smith, which is booby-trapped to explode if scanned by a replicating machine. Authors have proposed currencies that are incapable of replication such as the non-replicable latinum used by the Ferengi in the Star Trek universe, or the currency in Pandora's Millions by George O.

Ĭurrencies in science fiction face particular problems due to futuristic technology allowing matter replication and hence forgery. Writers do not need to explain the exact value of their fictional currencies or provide an exchange rate to modern money they may rely on the intuitive grasp of their readers, for instance that one currency unit is probably of little value, but that millions of units will be worth a lot. Dollar or Yen) may be used to imply how the history has progressed but would appear out of place in an entirely alien civilization. In some works of fiction, exchange media other than money are used.Īuthors have to take care when naming fictional currencies because of the associations between currency names and countries recognizable names for currencies of the future (e.g. A particularly common type, especially in science fiction, is electronically managed " credits". "Altairian dollars" or "Earth yen") while others such as "Kalganids" are more novel.

The names of such units of currency are sometimes based on extant or historic currencies (e.g. Fictional currency is currency in works of fiction.
