Currency & Finance
The most basic form of exchange is good old fashioned barter. One person offers a hat and the other trades them food or labor. Monetary systems eventually rose trading gold. Paper currency. Coins. Banks and checks rose to prominence and then came the digital transaction. In thousands of years, the great invention of money has changed little.
The Form of Money
Section titled “The Form of Money”Money is available in two basic forms:
- A Bank Account
The idea of a bank has changed little. A financial institution tracks your balance, sends money to people and institutions, charges fees, and enables the wheels of commerce to turn. What has changed is the absence of any true regulatory authority. Each system governs their banks, some span systems. There is no free insurance or other protections. While large corportions rely on them, they also usualy control them. Many see banks as an easy way to skim money from an entire population. - Digital Currency Chips
Paper currency and coins have gone away. Digital ‘chips’ have taken their places. These come in a variety of forms, but most are a 1 inch square piece of plastic, about a quarter inch thick. Some have a display on them to indicate how much money is on them. These can be deposited into machines to be taken whole-sale, held near terminals to offer payment, and traded outright. Each one can hole essentially an infinite amount of money. Think of as a digital wallet. It’s common to own several of them.
Those at the bottom of society tend to prefer the hard currency chips. They’re untraceable, mostly. They’re easy and convenient as long as you shake hands with the buyer or seller. Unfortunately once one is destroyed, the currency on it is probably gone as well (if the internals are intact, it can be salvaged).
Some companies insist on only dealing through banks. Some of this is good old fashioned racketeering and strongarming customers into working with their predatory financial partners of choice. Some of it is the idea of added security. Physical currency can be stolen or lost, while a bank transaction always leaves some records. You can follow the money trail, control access, and protect your assets - for a cost.
The Value of a Credit
Section titled “The Value of a Credit”If the financial system sounds too easy, it is. There is a wrinkle in the future of finance. Once humanity left Earth’s sphere of influence, there were no laws to govern anything. Each incorporated system could create their own currency. Companies that controled whole stations or planets could force their guests and workers to only deal in company script. When you’re trapped on some corporate station and forced to use their currency, your power is limited. Either buy from the company or be forced to suffer an awful exchange rate.
This scattershot approach to currency is common throughout the galaxy. A system might establish a currency under its owner, and then other companies, planet-owners, station-owners, might institute their own. There is no universal standard - the closest thing is a system-wide currency or a currency accepted in multiple systems.
New Athens Currencies
Section titled “New Athens Currencies”In New Athens, there are 5 major types of money. The exchange rates vary from credit to credit. Some are more valuable than others. Some companies offer their own private-credits, but they’re not dominant in the system.
New Athens Standard Credit
A currency made of whole-numbers, regulated by a ruling counsel of the 3 factions.
Calypso Dabloon
A pirate currency rejected by large businesses, but embraced by commoners.
Poli Dollar
Embraced by the workers and therefore extremely valuable for high-end goods.
Star Corp. Geld
A currency from one of the biggest corporations, it’s less valuable but very common.
| Item | NASC | CD | PD | SCG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candy Bar | 1200 | 400 | 350 | 4000 |
| Low-End Wages | 5,000/hr | 900/hr | 700/hr | 20,000/hr |
| Middle Class Wages | 25,000/hr | 6,000/hr | 4,000/hr | 80,000/hr |
| POD Hotel Stay | 45,000 | 14,000 | 8,000 | 180,000 |
| Cheap Transit from The Parthenon to Poli | 80,000 | 25,000 | 14,000 | 400,000 |
| Nice Hotel Stay | 200,000/night | 75,000 | 45,000 | 1.4 Million |
| 1st CLass Transit from The Parthenon to Poli | 450,000 | 110,000 | 60,000 | 3 Million |
| A Cheap House | 300 Million | 100 Million | 75 Million | 1.2 Billion |
| A Cheap Ship | 900 Million | 300 Million | 200 Million | 7.5 Billion |
| A Nice House | 2.5 Billion | 1.2 Billion | 500 Million | 20 Billion |
| A Good Ship | 7 Billion | 2.8 Billion | 1.4 Billion | 45 Billion |
Varying Value
Section titled “Varying Value”The value of these currencies is not fixed. Some currencies are more useful than others. The NASC is universally accepted, while Dabloons are rejected by large corporations. Trying to buy a ship from a company, with Dabloons will fall through unless they’re Pirate-Aligned. Maybe worker-aligned. Likewise, houses are far cheaper when bought in Poli Dollars than other currencies. It matters who the seller is and what they’re selling to gauge what an item costs. On a corporate station, they might sell a candy bar for 800 dabloons, while it would still be 1200 NASC. The scaling between currencies isn’t linear.
The 5th Currency
Section titled “The 5th Currency”There is one more type of currency. Company Script. It is incredibly wide-spread, but almost always worthless away from the company. This script is generally not used on any of the major planets. It is instead common on the Corporate Dark Stations. When it does make it outside its company, only a select few interested parties have any interest in it. This is a major means of how those stations manipulate and control their populations. On-station, the currency’s value is inflated, while off-station, it buys nothing.