Platinum, Credits and Trade: Money in the Firefly 'Verse

POSTED BY: Kozure
UPDATED: Sunday, August 29, 2004 06:22
VIEWED: 13076
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RANGER

Wednesday, March 24, 2004 2:45 AM

Just a couple of thoughts on this issue. First is that I imagine that the difference between coin and credits is one of technology. They both serve the same purpose of providing a base against which local currencies can be exchanged. I think the core probably uses electronic banking with accounts being valued in credits, but transactions priced in local terms. Over time the credit became a currency value in and of itself with most people simply avoiding the messy problem of converting to local currency. On the rim, with no real communications infrastructure, the coin serves the same function. Metal coin (pick your metal) was issued as a safe means of exchange over local paper money.

As to setting comparative values, I think that gets tricky based on the very different natures of the economies in the core and on the rim. I think when Simon says that something is worth "50 platinum, maybe 20 credits" he is not making a direct conversion, but rather comparing the difference between the core, where meds are probably pretty easy to get and the rim, where the local supply is much more problematic.

One final thought to add even more confusion. Inflation or deflatin may have resulted in a radical change in currency values. They may actually be talking about two different values whent they refer to a given price. When a society goes through a significant revaluation of currency (which could have happened in the unification war) it's not uncommon for people to still refer to the old prices even though they may be off by quite a bit. In Yugoslavia in the 1980s people used to multiply prices by 1,000 for things because the money had been revalued at 1 new dinar for 1,000 old dinars. People kept using the old prices out of habbit, even 20 years later.

Just some things to mull over I guess.

Traveller, if you go to Sparta, tell them you have seen us lying here as the Law commands.

NIGHTTRAIN

Wednesday, March 24, 2004 3:38 AM

Thats some very good observations, but my guess is that they just make up the numbers as they go along writing episodes and don't put too much thought into it. Like all that technical babble they just make up when kaylee starts talking about engines or ships.

ROUTIER

Sunday, August 29, 2004 6:22 AM

Wow! I'm impressed with Kozure's detailed analysis - I was about to do one myself.

From first watching the series (which was only a few weeks ago) I've been mentally multiplying prices by 10 into equivalent US$, and it hasn't seemed too far off.

Have a look at:

http://www.fireflywiki.org/Firefly/FireflyMoney

There's another view of the credit/platinum issue here, together with a very nice image of one of those 100 credit/platinum bills. The Chinese characters on the right hand globe says "bank".

For relative costs of things, it would be interesting to look at the Old West as a comparison. Relative costs of things in 2002 are very different to even 50 years ago, so who knows what the relative costs of, say, transport vs food will be in 500 years time?

Something no-one has mentioned yet is the use of the term "square" for money. Can't remember the episode(s), but it was there. Must go back & look. Is this the same as platinum? Square ingots of platinum? Square banknotes?

So much to work out...

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