Gold Pressed Latinum

Latinum is a rare, silver-colored liquid metal that cannot be replicated. For everyday use, it is suspended inside gold (which is worthless to replicator-equipped species) to act as a solid carrying medium.

The Ferengi Standard System

• 100 Slips = 1 Strip
• 20 Strips = 1 Bar (or 2,000 Slips)
• 20 Bars = 1 Brick (or 40,000 Slips)

Federation Credit Exchange Rate

• 1 Big Bar ≈ 100,000 Federation Credits

Foreign Currency Equivalents (Memory Beta)

• Cardassian Drokna / Lek: The Cardassian Union issues gold-sealed latinum chits. Depending on the purity, one Drokna is worth anywhere from 3 slips to ¼ of a bar. Because Cardassian molecular engineering is actually superior at containing liquid latinum, Ferengi banks jealously penalize them, accepting Cardassian tender at only 85% of its true market weight.
• Klon Peags: A game wager currency. 350 Klon Peags is roughly equivalent to 80–90 bars of latinum.

Buying Power

Slips (Pocket Change)

A single slip represents the absolute lowest denomination.

Cost	Item / Service Purchased	Context / Notes
1 Slip	FCA waiting room fee	Cost to stand in the Ferengi Commerce Authority lobby, or to ask the receptionist one question.
2 Slips	Doctor's waiting room fee	Standard entry fee just to walk into the clinic of Dr. Orpax (elite Ferenginar physician).
3 Slips	FCA chair rental	Cost to rent a chair to sit down while waiting inside the FCA.
5 Slips	Casino table buy-in	Standard buy-in wager for a low-stakes table of Dabo or Tongo at Quark's Bar.

Strips (Everyday Purchases)

A strip is solid consumer spending money. Having a few strips in your pocket means you can eat well, buy clothes, or secure a night’s lodging.

Cost	Item / Service Purchased	Context / Notes
1 Strip	Premium drink / Holosuite	Cost of a glass of vintage Kanar or a high-end holosuite rental.
1 Strip, 15 Slips	Bajoran art sculpture	Winning auction price at Quark's for a rare Bajoran bronze/triptin sculpture.
2 Strips	Childhood pajamas	Price Rom negotiated to buy Nog's old pajamas at a souvenir auction.
5–10 Strips	Courier job / Tip	Respectable tip or standard fee for a short-haul smuggling/courier run on DS9.

Bars (Major Wealth & Business)

A single Bar represents serious money. A handful of bars is life-changing for a common citizen.

Cost	Item / Service Purchased	Context / Notes
1 Bar	Holosuite retirement	Quark noted 1 Bar (plus a jeweled ring) was enough to "move into a holosuite and live there."
2 Bars	Humanoid female (slave)	Standard "scrap" resale value on the Orion black market.
5 Bars	100 gross stem bolts	Wholesale asking price for 14,400 self-sealing stem bolts.
5 Bars	Mercenary prison break	Quark's estimate to hire "five Nausicaans, a fast ship, and very few questions."
5 Bars	Bar daily revenue	Average gross revenue generated by Quark's Bar on a really good business day.
5–30 Bars / wk	Underworld consultant	Scaling weekly salary for a high-level private underworld shipping consultant.
10 Bars	Finder's fee	An "overly generous" reward for locating a high-value missing person.
17 Bars, 3 Strips, 5 Slips	Ferengi life savings	The total accumulated life savings of Rom (an adult FCA technician) in 2372.
20 Bars	Desiccated Nagus remains	Standard price for one disk of the vacuum-desiccated remains of a famous Grand Nagus.
36 Bars	Gamma Quadrant artifact	Winning auction price for a historic, museum-grade Gamma Quadrant statue.
105 Bars	Gem-studded dagger	Price of a unique alien dagger from the Gamma Quadrant.
189 Bars	Planetary grain shipment	Total market cost for a massive planetary bulk shipment of Kohlanese barley.
199 Bars	Magical rings	Price Ashrock paid to buy 42 ancient "Rings of Paltriss".
500 Bars	Quark's remains	Fortune Liquidator Brunt paid for Quark's future desiccated remains.

Bricks & Mega-Wealth

Bricks are used exclusively for institutional banking, planetary GDPs, and syndicate warlords.

Cost	Item / Service Purchased	Context / Notes
100 Bricks (2,000 Bars)	Morn's retirement fortune	The liquid latinum extracted from Morn's second stomach.
3,000 Bars	Crime lord title	Cash bribe required to buy the title of Delbaj inside the Orion Syndicate.
10,000 Bricks	Interstellar fleet	Down payment used by a government to buy a massive fleet of freighters.
2 Million Bars	Planetary warp fuel deposit	Payout earned by geologist Glav for selling a massive Calvinum deposit.
5 Billion Bars	National treasury	The entire planetary national treasury of the planet Sigma V.

Summary of Macro-Economics

If you translate Latinum into a modern 21st-century Earth mindset:

Denomination	Estimated 21st-Century USD	Real-World Purchasing Equivalent
1 Slip	$2 – $5	Buy a soda / pay a petty toll
1 Strip	$200 – $500	Buy dinner for four / get a nice hotel room
1 Bar	$5,000 – $10,000	Buy a used car / hire a hitman / live for a few months
1 Brick	$100,000 – $200,000	Buy a small private starship / purchase real estate