Latinum
- Nature decays, but latinum lasts forever.
- - 102nd Rule of Acquisition
Latinum is a rare silver liquid used as currency by the Ferengi Alliance and many other worlds. It cannot be replicated. For ease of transaction, latinum is usually suspended within gold to produce "gold-pressed" latinum. (DS9: "Who Mourns for Morn?")
Denominations of gold-pressed latinum, in order of increasing value, include the slip, the strip, the bar and the brick.
- "Who Mourns for Morn?" suggests that gold is worthless, but Quark may have just stated this out of frustration and in comparison to the latinum he was expecting.
- 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?" where 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.
Latinum Items[edit]
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 states that the Divine Treasury is made of pure latinum. (DS9: "Little Green Men")
Bucket
Quark suggests that Odo could have a latinum-plated bucket to sleep in. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Waste extraction fixtures
According to Nog, the waste extraction fixtures in the Nagal Residence are plated with latinum. Quark suggests that, if made Grand Nagus, he would (rather indulgently) replace them with solid latinum fixtures. (DS9: "The Dogs of War")
Bajoran earring
Maihar'du gives 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 are solid.
Relative values[edit]
Slips[edit]
One hundred slips of gold-pressed latinum are equal to one strip. (DS9: "Body Parts")
1 slip
Ferengi put one slip of gold-pressed latinum into the throne of the Grand Nagus. (DS9: "Ferengi Love Songs")
Quark gives Brunt one slip of latinum 'for his troubles' during his visit on behalf of the Ferengi Commerce Authority. (DS9: "Family Business")
Quark pays his Bajoran employees one slip of latinum a day during the Cardassian Occupation. (DS9: "Things Past")
2 slips
Quark puts two slips of gold-pressed latinum in to his bust of the Blessed Exchequer, adding another two when making an extra request. (DS9: "The Emperor's New Cloak")
Quark offers two slips to the first Ferengi to reach the infirmary. (DS9: "The Magnificent Ferengi")
3 slips
In the Tower of Commerce in 2372, it cost three slips of gold-pressed latinum to sit down. (DS9: "Family Business")
7 slips
In the Tower of Commerce in 2372, it cost seven slips of latinum to use the elevator. Quark exclaims that this is greater than his previous visits to the tower. (DS9: "Family Business")
8 slips
Quark sells 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")
10 slips
Quark charges 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 plays with Quark she wins with a Full Consortium and is owed ten slips. (DS9: "Afterimage")
Strips[edit]
One strip of gold-pressed latinum is equal to one hundred slips. Twenty strips are equal to one bar of latinum. (DS9: "Body Parts")
1 strip
Quark says that a strip of latinum would pay for a couple of spins of the dabo wheel. (DS9: "Sanctuary")
Nog and Jake Sisko plan to play dom-jot for a strip of latinum a go. (DS9: "Life Support")
2 strips
Doctor Orpax, one of the most expensive doctors on Ferenginar, charges two strips of latinum just to walk into the waiting room. (DS9: "Body Parts")
Elim Garak almost buys Jadzia's freedom from a Cardassian guard during the Occupation of Bajor. (DS9: "Things Past")
On Cardassia IV, an overseer is offered the services of Kira Nerys for two strips of latinum. (DS9: "The Homecoming")
3 strips
Quark asks for three strips of latinum for one memorial disk of Plegg. (DS9: "The Alternate")
Nog offers to sell his pyjamas to Rom for three strips of latinum but settles for two. (DS9: "Little Green Men")
Jadzia Dax staked William T. Riker three strips of gold-pressed latinum when his winning streak ran dry. (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")
5 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")
8 strips
During a game of tongo, Jadzia Dax stated that the sell price would be eight strips. (DS9: "Rules of Acquisition")
10 strips
Nog sells the holosuite program A Visit with the Pleasure Goddess of Rixx to Julian Bashir for ten strips of latinum. (DS9: "Little Green Men")
15 strips
Jadzia Dax wins fifteen strips of latinum off of Quark in a tongo game. (DS9: "Business as Usual")
17 strips
A dress from Garak's shop would cost seventeen strips of latinum, but Quark offers twenty for it. (DS9: "Profit and Loss")
Bars[edit]
One bar of gold-pressed latinum is equal to twenty strips or 2,000 slips of latinum. (DS9: "Body Parts") Note: In an auction, Quark suggests that one bar and twenty five strips is lower in value than two bars. This contradicts the idea that there are twenty strips in a bar. (DS9: "In the Cards")a latinum bar, measures 4.75 × 0.5 × 2.25 inches.
1 bar
Tiron pays Quark one bar of latinum and a precious jeweled ring for a custom holosuite program. Apparently, this is quite generous, as Quark suggests that he could "move into a holosuite" with that much latinum. (DS9: "Meridian")
2 bars
Jadzia Dax loses two bars in a tongo game. (DS9: "The Darkness and the Light")
3 bars
Ishka made three bars of gold-pressed latinum by investing in a Hupyrian beetle farm. (DS9: "Family Business")
Quark pays three bars of gold-pressed latinum for the wreckage of a ship that crashed in the Gamma Quadrant. (DS9: "The Abandoned")
4 bars
Nog predicted that he could earn four bars of gold-pressed latinum from selling 5,000 wrappages of Yamok sauce.
5 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 asks for five bars of gold-pressed latinum in exchange for sharing information. (TNG: "Gambit, Part I")
Quark wagers Vash five bars of latinum that Benjamin Sisko would win a fight against Q. (DS9: "Q-Less")
Quark accepts five bars of latinum to retrieve a strongbox from Deep Space 9 for Pallra. (DS9: "Necessary Evil")
Quark says that five bars of latinum will buy him five Nausicaans, a fast ship and very few questions to break Rom out of the Dominion's cells. (DS9: "Favor the Bold")
Quark estimates (possibly generously) that a day's business in his bar is 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 increases to ten then twenty and finally thirty bars a week. (DS9: "Prodigal Daughter")
7 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")
10 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 concedes that ten bars of latinum is an overly generous finders fee. (DS9: "The Magnificent Ferengi")
Quark offers Pel ten bars of latinum to help start a new life. (DS9: "Rules of Acquisition")
Quark sells one hundred gross of self-sealing stem bolts to Emi for ten bars of latinum. (DS9: "Prophet Motive")
12 bars
When William Riker becomes the only customer in Quark's to win triple down dabo, Quark gives him vouchers for twelve bars of latinum. (TNG: "Firstborn")
18 bars
Quark reluctantly increased the amount he would pay Vash for the Promethean quartz-like lifeform from seven bars to eighteen, which Vash declined. (DS9: "Q-Less")
20 bars
Krax sells one memorial disk of Zek for twenty bars of latinum, suggesting it will double in price within a year. (DS9: "The Nagus")
During an evacuation of Deep Space 9, Quark offers 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")
22 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")
30 bars
Quark's last offer to Vash for the Promethean quartz-like lifeform was thirty bars, which Vash declined. (DS9: "Q-Less")
36 bars
Quark sells an item in his auction of Vash's finds to a buyer called Kolos for thirty-six bars of latinum. (DS9: "Q-Less")
40 bars
Bidding for a knife in Quark and Vash's auction started at forty bars. (DS9: "Q-Less")
50 bars
Zek offered a reward of fifty bars of gold-pressed latinum for the return of Ishka. (DS9: "The Magnificent Ferengi")
105 bars
Quark sells an item in his auction of Vash's finds to his cousin Stol for one hundred and five bars of latinum. (DS9: "Q-Less")
151 bars
Quark sells 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")
189 bars
Zek can buy two thousand tons of Kohlanese barley for one hundred and eighty-nine bars of latinum. (DS9: "Prophet Motive")
199 bars
Quark sells 42 of the 80 Rings of Paltriss to Ashrock for one hundred and ninety-nine bars of gold-pressed latinum. (DS9: "Melora")
200 bars
In late 2374, Quark made a profit of 200 bars of gold-pressed latinum when he sold Denevan crystals to a Nausicaan entrepreneur. (DS9: "The Sound of Her Voice")
Vash suggests that they start the bidding for one of her artifacts from the Gamma Quadrant at two hundred bars of latinum. (DS9: "Q-Less")
350 bars
Vash predicts the value of the Promethean quartz-like lifeform at around 350 bars of gold-pressed latinum, rather than Quark's prediction of seven bars. (DS9: "Q-Less")
500 bars
In 2373, Brunt bids 500 bars of gold-pressed latinum for all 52 disks of Quark's remains. (DS9: "Body Parts")
600 bars
On stardate 47182.1, Quark attempted to evacuate with six hundred bars of gold-pressed latinum. (DS9: "Invasive Procedures")
1,000 bars
Ah-Kel and Ro-Kel intend 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")
3,000 bars
A buyer called Kolos offers three thousand bars for an item from the Gamma Quadrant in an auction of Vash's finds. (DS9: "Q-Less")
5,000 bars
Rom offers 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")
1,000,000 bars
Q offers one million bars of gold-pressed latinum for the boxed quartz from Vash's collection (although we're sure he was insincere about his bid). (DS9: "Q-Less")
10,000,000 bars
Gaila offers 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")
Bricks[edit]
The exchange rate from bricks to bars is unknown
60 bricks
Brunt bribes Quark with sixty bricks of gold-pressed latinum to make him financial adviser to the Nagus. (DS9: "The Dogs of War")
1,000 bricks
During the Lissepian Mother's Day Heist that took place on Lissepia in 2365, 1,000 bricks of gold-pressed latinum were stolen. Larell had told Quark that Morn had won the 1,000 bricks of gold-pressed latinum in the Lissepian Lottery. (DS9: "Who Mourns for Morn?", "The Sound of Her Voice")
Further values[edit]
Seventeen bars, three strips, and five slips
The total of Rom's life savings in 2373 and the amount he bids for Quark's remains. (DS9: "Body Parts")
Thirteen kilograms
Tahna Los gives 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")
10,000 isiks
Martus Mazur gives Alsia ten-thousand isiks of latinum, the profits from their club. (DS9: "Rivals")
A case
All the latinum in Quark's possession at the time of an evacuation of Deep Space 9 can fit in one case. (DS9: "The Siege")
Guidance[edit]
The following provides guidance and comparison on the value of latinum for specific items. Further details of each item may be seen above.
Clothing
- Cadet's uniform - 5 strips
- Dress from Garak's Clothiers - 17-20 strips
Life savings
- Nog - 5 bars
- Quark - 600 bars
- Rom - 17 bars, 3 strips and 5 slips
Wages
- Morica Bilby - 5-30 bars a week
- Quark's employees during the Cardassian Occupation - 1 slip per day
Profits
- Janel Tigan - more than 1,000 bars a day
- Quark - 5 bars a day
Holosuite programs
- A Visit with the Pleasure Goddess of Rixx - 10 strips
- Custom holosuite program - 1 bar
