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Pure Latinum

Pure liquid latinum

Latinum

Three strips of gold-pressed latinum

"Nature decays, but latinum lasts forever."
- 102nd Rule of Acquisition (DS9: "The Jem'Hadar")

Latinum was a rare silver-colored liquid that was used as currency by the Ferengi Alliance and many other worlds. It could not be replicated. For ease of transaction, latinum was usually suspended within "useless" gold as a binding medium to produce gold-pressed latinum. (DS9: "Who Mourns for Morn?")

Latinum was unfamiliar to the Quark of the mirror universe. (DS9: "Crossover")

Denominations of gold-pressed latinum, in order of increasing value, included the slip, the strip, the bar, and the brick.

"Who Mourns for Morn?" suggests that gold is essentially worthless in civilizations with replicator technology, but Quark mentions that there are certain primitive cultures that consider gold dust quite valuable. See gold for more information.
Liquid latinum appears to be less harmful to humanoid life than the real-world liquid metal Mercury. This is seen to be true in the episode DS9: "Who Mourns for Morn?" in which Morn spits out about a hundred bricks' worth of liquid latinum into a glass, revealing he had stored his life savings of latinum in his second stomach, which had caused his hair to fall out but otherwise appears to have left him unharmed. Then again, as we know little of Morn's species, it may be the result of a strong constitution on his part, or an immunity of his species.

Latinum items

Renewal scroll inscription pens
Quark was selling renewal scroll inscription pens during the Bajoran Gratitude Festival. The pens were latinum-plated. (DS9: "Fascination")
Hair brooch
Lwaxana Troi's latinum hair brooch was stolen while she was on Deep Space 9 in 2369. (DS9: "The Forsaken")
Tooth sharpener
Quark had to use wooden chew-sticks while Rom used a latinum tooth sharpener when they were children. (DS9: "Family Business")
The Divine Treasury
Quark stated that the Divine Treasury was made of pure latinum. (DS9: "Little Green Men")
Bucket
Quark suggested that Odo could have had a latinum-plated bucket to sleep in. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Waste extraction fixtures
According to Nog, the waste extraction fixtures in the Nagal Residence were plated with latinum. Quark suggested that, if made Grand Nagus, he would (rather indulgently) have replaced them with solid latinum fixtures. (DS9: "The Dogs of War")
Bajoran earring
Maihar'du gave Kira Nerys a latinum Bajoran earring. (DS9: "Rules of Acquisition")
The existence of these items is slightly unusual, as it suggests that a solid form of latinum does exist. However, pure gold is also never used in contemporary jewelry, and perhaps several latinum alloys or even allotropes of latinum were solid.

Slips

Latinum strip

One slip of latinum

One hundred slips of gold-pressed latinum were equal to one strip. (DS9: "Body Parts")

One slip
Ferengi put one slip of gold-pressed latinum into the throne of the Grand Nagus. (DS9: "Ferengi Love Songs")
A Ferengi traditionally paid a toll of one slip of latinum per head upon entering the house of another Ferengi. (DS9: "Family Business")
Quark gave Brunt one slip of latinum "for his troubles" during his visit on behalf of the Ferengi Commerce Authority. (DS9: "Family Business")
Quark paid his Bajoran employees one slip of latinum a day during the Cardassian Occupation. (DS9: "Things Past")
Two slips
Quark put two slips of gold-pressed latinum into his bust of the Blessed Exchequer, adding another two when making an extra request. (DS9: "The Emperor's New Cloak")
Quark offered two slips to the first Ferengi to reach Empok Nor's infirmary. (DS9: "The Magnificent Ferengi")
Three slips
In the Tower of Commerce in 2372, it cost three slips of gold-pressed latinum to sit down. (DS9: "Family Business")
Seven slips
In the Tower of Commerce in 2372, it cost seven slips of latinum to use the elevator. Quark exclaimed that this was more expensive than it was on his previous visits to the tower. (DS9: "Family Business")
Eight slips
Quark sold a sick Changeling to Odo for eight slips of latinum. When he thought it was dead, he asked for five slips, and when he thought it was alive he increased this to ten slips, finally leveling the deal at eight because it was "sick". (DS9: "The Begotten")
Ten slips
Quark charged Rom ten slips of latinum for a crate of root beer to be given to Nog. (DS9: "The Ascent")
In the last game of tongo that Jadzia Dax played with Quark she won with a Full Consortium and was owed ten slips. (DS9: "Afterimage")

Strips

Latinum, three sizes

Two slips (right), a strip (left) and a bar (center) of latinum

Twenty strips were equal to one bar of latinum. (DS9: "Body Parts")

One strip
Quark said that a strip of latinum would pay for a couple of spins of the dabo wheel. (DS9: "Sanctuary")
Nog and Jake Sisko planned to play dom-jot for a strip of latinum a go. (DS9: "Life Support")
Two strips
Doctor Orpax, one of the most expensive doctors on Ferenginar, charged two strips of latinum just to walk into the waiting room. (DS9: "Body Parts")
With two strips, Elim Garak almost bought Jadzia's freedom from a Cardassian guard during the Occupation of Bajor. (DS9: "Things Past")
On Cardassia IV, an overseer was offered the services of Kira Nerys for two strips of latinum. (DS9: "The Homecoming")
Three strips
Quark asked for three strips of latinum for one memorial disk of Plegg. (DS9: "The Alternate")
Nog offered to sell his pajamas to Rom for three strips of latinum, but settled for two. (DS9: "Little Green Men")
Jadzia Dax staked Thomas Riker three strips of gold-pressed latinum when his winning streak ran dry, thinking he was William T. Riker. (DS9: "Defiant")
During a game of tongo, Jadzia Dax stated that the purchase price would be three strips. (DS9: "Rules of Acquisition")
Quark owed Jadzia Dax three strips of latinum. (DS9: "Meridian")
Five strips
During a game of tongo, Jadzia Dax stated that the opening risk would be five strips. (DS9: "Rules of Acquisition")
A cadet's uniform from Garak's shop for Nog cost Rom five strips of latinum. (DS9: "Facets")
Eight strips
During a game of tongo, Jadzia Dax stated that the sell price would be eight strips. (DS9: "Rules of Acquisition")
Ten strips
Nog sold the holosuite program A Visit with the Pleasure Goddess of Rixx to Jadzia Dax for ten strips of latinum, who then gave it to Julian Bashir as a gift. (DS9: "Little Green Men")
Fourteen strips
Quark paid a dabo girl fourteen strips of latinum on payday. (DS9: "The Collaborator")
Fifteen strips
Jadzia Dax won fifteen strips of latinum from Quark in a tongo game. (DS9: "Business as Usual")
Seventeen strips
The price of a dress from Garak's shop was seventeen strips of latinum, but Quark offered twenty for it. (DS9: "Profit and Loss")

Bars

File:Latinum bars, Move along home.jpg

Bars of latinum

One bar of gold-pressed latinum was equal to twenty strips or two thousand slips of latinum. (DS9: "Body Parts") {{bginfo|In an auction, Quark suggested that one bar and twenty five strips was lower in value than two bars. (DS9: "In the Cards") This might contradict the idea that there were twenty strips in a bar, but not necessarily if for some reason it was more costly to produce larger units. See [{{fullurl:Wikipedia:Seigniorage].}} Seigniorage].] at Wikipedia

One bar
Tiron paid Quark one bar of latinum and a precious jeweled ring for a custom holosuite program. Apparently, this was quite generous, as Quark suggested that he could "move into a holosuite" with that much latinum. (DS9: "Meridian")
Two bars
Jadzia Dax lost two bars in a tongo game. (DS9: "The Darkness and the Light")
Three bars
Ishka made three bars of gold-pressed latinum by investing in a Hupyrian beetle farm. (DS9: "Family Business")
Quark paid three bars of gold-pressed latinum for the wreckage of a ship that crashed in the Gamma Quadrant. (DS9: "The Abandoned")
Four bars
Nog predicted that he could earn four bars of gold-pressed latinum from selling five thousand wrappages of Yamok sauce. (DS9: "Progress")
Five bars
The Noh-Jay Consortium traded seven tessipates of land on Bajor for five bars of gold-pressed latinum. (DS9: "Progress")
Nog's life savings in 2373 equaled five bars of gold-pressed latinum. (DS9: "In the Cards")
Yranac asked for five bars of gold-pressed latinum in exchange for sharing information. (TNG: "Gambit, Part I")
Quark wagered Vash five bars of latinum that Benjamin Sisko would win a fight against Q. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Quark accepted five bars of latinum to retrieve a strongbox from Deep Space 9 for Pallra. (DS9: "Necessary Evil")
Quark said that five bars of latinum would buy him five Nausicaans, a fast ship, and very few questions in order to break Rom out of the Dominion's cells. (DS9: "Favor the Bold")
Quark estimated (possibly generously) that a day's business in his bar was about five bars of latinum. (DS9: "In the Pale Moonlight")
Morica Bilby received a wage of five bars of latinum a week for services rendered as a shipping consultant. The salary increased to ten, then twenty, and finally thirty bars a week. (DS9: "Prodigal Daughter")
Seven bars
Quark offered to take the Promethean quartz-like lifeform off of Vash for seven bars of gold-pressed latinum rather than to auction it off. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Ten bars
Bidding for the Verathan statue in Quark and Vash's auction started at ten bars. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Elias Giger paid ten bars of gold-pressed latinum for an Andorian chest containing a pre-Surak Vulcan bracelet, a 6th century Bajoran mandala, a 23rd century ion-transtator, and a Willie Mays baseball card from Earth dated 1951. (DS9: "In the Cards")
Rom conceded that ten bars of latinum was an overly generous finders fee. (DS9: "The Magnificent Ferengi")
Quark offered Pel ten bars of latinum to help start a new life. (DS9: "Rules of Acquisition")
Quark offered to sell one hundred gross of self-sealing stem bolts to Emi for ten bars of latinum. (DS9: "Prophet Motive")
Twelve bars
When William Riker became the only customer in Quark's to win triple down dabo, Quark gave him vouchers for twelve bars of latinum. Riker "exchanged" the vouchers to obtain information from Quark on the location of the Duras sisters. (TNG: "Firstborn")
Eighteen bars
Quark reluctantly increased the amount he would pay Vash for the Promethean quartz-like lifeform from seven bars to eighteen, an offer which Vash declined. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Twenty bars
Krax sold one memorial disk of Zek for twenty bars of latinum, suggesting it would double in price within a year. (DS9: "The Nagus")
During an evacuation of Deep Space 9, Quark offered twenty bars for a seat on a transport off the station, increasing this from an original offer of five, followed by ten. (DS9: "The Siege")
Twenty-two bars
One of Quark's customers didn't pay a "rather extensive" bar tab that came to twenty-two bars including the interest it accumulated. Quark said, although he would be offered eight bars, he would accept twelve. (DS9: "Return to Grace")
Thirty bars
Quark's last offer to Vash for the Promethean quartz-like lifeform was thirty bars, which Vash declined. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Thirty-six bars
Quark sold an item in his auction of Vash's finds to a buyer called Kolos for thirty-six bars of latinum. (DS9: "Q-Less")
forty bars
Bidding for a knife in Quark and Vash's auction started at forty bars. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Fifty bars
Zek offered a reward of fifty bars of gold-pressed latinum for the return of Ishka. (DS9: "The Magnificent Ferengi")
One hundred and five bars
Quark sold an item in his auction of Vash's finds to his cousin Stol for one hundred and five bars of latinum. (DS9: "Q-Less")
One hundred and fifty-one bars
Quark sold a necklace (an item in his auction of Vash's finds) to a buyer called Rul the Obscure for one hundred and fifty-one bars of latinum. (DS9: "Q-Less")
One hundred and eighty-nine bars
Zek could buy two thousand tons of Kohlanese barley for one hundred and eighty-nine bars of latinum. (DS9: "Prophet Motive")
One hundred and ninety-nine bars
Quark sold forty-two of the eighty Rings of Paltriss to Ashrock for one hundred and ninety-nine bars of gold-pressed latinum. (DS9: "Melora")
Two hundred bars
In late 2374, Quark made a profit of two hundred bars of gold-pressed latinum when he sold Denevan crystals to a Nausicaan entrepreneur. (DS9: "The Sound of Her Voice")
Vash suggested that they start the bidding for one of her artifacts from the Gamma Quadrant at two hundred bars of latinum. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Three hundred and fifty bars
Vash predicted the value of the Promethean quartz-like lifeform at around three hundred and fifty bars of gold-pressed latinum, rather than Quark's prediction of seven bars. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Five hundred bars
In 2373, Brunt bid five hundred bars of gold-pressed latinum for all fifty-two disks of Quark's remains. (DS9: "Body Parts")
Six hundred bars
On stardate 47182.1, Quark attempted to evacuate with six hundred bars of gold-pressed latinum. (DS9: "Invasive Procedures")
One thousand bars
Ah-Kel and Ro-Kel intended to charge one thousand bars (non-negotiable) for an "ornately carved metal sphere". (DS9: "Vortex")
Janel Tigan said that the broken waveguide in 14-3-A would make him lose one thousand bars a day. (DS9: "Prodigal Daughter")
Three thousand bars
A buyer called Kolos offered three thousand bars for an item from the Gamma Quadrant in an auction of Vash's finds. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Five thousand bars
Rom offered to buy Quark's Bar for five thousand bars of gold-pressed latinum, although he expected Quark to haggle up to at least eight thousand. (DS9: "The Dogs of War")
One million bars
Q offered one million bars of gold-pressed latinum for the boxed quartz from Vash's collection (although he was insincere about his bid). (DS9: "Q-Less")
Ten million bars
Gaila offered ten million bars of gold-pressed latinum to Quark in an attempt to keep him in the world of weapon sales. (DS9: "Business as Usual")
Among the items which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay was a latinum bar, which measures 4.75 × 0.5 × 2.25 inches. [1]

Bricks

File:Latinum bricks, Who mourns for Morn.jpg

Latinum bricks

The exchange rate from bars to bricks is unknown.
Sixty bricks
Brunt bribed Quark with sixty bricks of gold-pressed latinum to make him financial adviser to the Nagus. (DS9: "The Dogs of War")
One hundred bricks
After Morn faked his death and used Quark to get rid of his cohorts, he regurgitated one hundred bricks worth of latinum as compensation. (DS9: "Who Mourns for Morn?")
One thousand bricks
During the Lissepian Mother's Day Heist that took place on Lissepia in 2365, one thousand bricks of gold-pressed latinum were stolen. Larell had told Quark that Morn had won the thousand bricks of gold-pressed latinum in the Lissepian Lottery. (DS9: "Who Mourns for Morn?", "The Sound of Her Voice")
A latinum brick from "Who Mourns for Morn?" was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [2]

Further values

Seventeen bars, three strips, and five slips
The total of Rom's life savings in 2373 and the amount he bid for Quark's remains. (DS9: "Body Parts")
Thirteen kilograms
Tahna Los gave Lursa and B'Etor thirteen kilograms of latinum in exchange for a canister of bilitrium. (DS9: "Past Prologue")
Three cases
The dowry for the wedding of Tholian Ambassador that visited Deep Space 9, stolen while at the station. (DS9: "Defiant")
A case
All the latinum in Quark's possession at the time of an evacuation of Deep Space 9 could fit in one case. (DS9: "The Siege")
Values to be evaluated

Comparative values

The following provides comparison on the value of latinum for specific items. Further details of each item may be seen above.

Clothing
  • Cadet's uniform - five strips
  • Dress from Garak's Clothiers - seventeen to twenty strips
Life savings
  • Nog - five bars
  • Quark - one hundred bricks and six hundred bars
  • Rom - seventeen bars, three strips, and five slips
Wages
  • Morica Bilby - five to thirty bars a week
  • Quark's employees during the Cardassian Occupation - one slip per day
  • Quark's dabo girls on DS9 - fourteen strips per pay cycle (undetermined)
Profits
Holosuite programs

Apocrypha

Star Trek: Armada II depicts the natural form of latinum occurring in sparse nebulae in a form that can be harvested. The Federation uses it for trade, while the Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, and Cardassian Union also use latinum for research. The Borg do not use it, and Species 8472 converts it into biomatter.

External link

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