K-015: Independent Transporter Welcome Wagon, Chief Steward’s Office (Nonoop System, near the Nav Buoy)

Money Cards

I have updated Starr’s Spreadsheet of Spending, including being specific about which cards have what amounts.  Let me know if you disagree, would like to alter anything, or would like the actual spreadsheet.

In particular, I had a sense that Oliver doesn’t carry cash, but you should feel free to say he has as many Dominion coins as he wants, up to the value stored in his main personal Money card (ʄ15,793.0 – that’s over 3,000 coins though). 

In summary I think Oliver has with him the following:

• Cash = 202.3
• Cards
  • Oliver’s main personal authorised Money card (limit ʄ50,000) = 15,793.0
  • Money card with Vizierate pay from Melody (limit ʄ75,000)† = 52,716.0
  • Money card with Vizierate pay from Dicard at Zargonia (limit ʄ10,000) = 8,832.0
  • Money card with Vizierate pay from Dicard at Pristine (limit ʄ10,000) = 9,936.0
  • 25x Money cards with pay from Zayaire (limit ʄ2,000) = 25 x 2,000.0 = 50,000.0
  • 5x Money cards with pay from Zayaire (limit ʄ1,000) = 5 x 1,000.0 = 5,000.0
  • 3x Money cards with pay from Karmen (limit ʄ20,000) = 3 x 20,000.0 = 60,000.0 
  • 3x Money cards with pay from Karmen (limit ʄ5,000) = 3 x 5,000.0 = 15,000.0
• Total = 217,479.3

†  Originally, we played that Melody transferred the Money to Oliver’s card, but having subsequently thought more about how finances work in the Dominion, if you’re happy to retcon it’s more likely that for a transaction this size, she would have given him a separate card with this amount on it. 

In the Dominion, an unauthorised Money card cannot be used for (legal) transactions (ie A Money card reader will refuse to process it.)  An unauthorised card can be authorised to anyone who has an ID tag and physical access to the card.  As such, Oliver may or may not have chosen to authorise any of the cards given to him in payment.  Authorising one’s cards provides some security against theft or loss, but a cyberterrorist may feel differently about that to most people.  You did state that he authorised half the cards from the Karmen payment (ref I-003).  He had six cards from that, as noted above, which three did he authorise?  He has 33 other cards which may or may not have been authorised – what has he chosen to do?

Chief Steward’s Office

Channing nods, “so in the Dominion, you have one bank right, that issues all your Dominion Money?”

It’s rhetorical, and Channing doesn’t wait for Oliver to respond.

“Well, here we have many banks, and any of them can issue their own money.  Those are Bank Notes, and they’re a promise for that bank to redeem the note for legal tender or specie.  Most banks accept other banks’ notes but the exchange rate varies, and most merchants accept most banks’ notes, but they may haggle over value.

“I mentioned the Bank of Gateway earlier because that’s where you’ll eventually be getting off, and Bank of Gateway Notes are widely used there.

“In the early times, that all got a bit confusing, with different names for different notes and different exchange rates, so the government created the Standard – a common currency against which all the different bank notes could be pegged, and then created a central bank to issue it.  That’s a whole other story I won’t go into.

“The Standard is the default trade currency against the Dominion Money at 10:1, or one Standard to one of your Deci’s.  Lots of people use the Standard, and merchants are required to take them at face value.  Doesn’t mean they won’t haggle over the value of what they’re selling, but they can’t haggle over the value of the currency.

“Commodity Notes are issued by banks, but also commodity traders.  A Commodity Note is backed by something tangible – usually a fixed quantity of something that the bearer can redeem, but often just the notes are traded.  Again, value is measured against the Standard.  There’s usually a notional value at issue, but people often haggle based on current value of the commodity. 

“We also have specie coins, which are usually precious metal and derive their value from what they’re made of.  Again, they’re usually issued by banks, but anyone can mint a specie coin and use it in trade as long as they mark it according to law.”

“Banks will issue you a card denominated in their Bank Notes, or sometimes Commodity Notes, if you want, like your Money cards, but we don’t use them aboard ship.”

She looks at Oliver, inviting questions.