Imperial Credits

[J. L. Brown]

I figure that the banking corps run an x-boat-like network for financial transactions.

Several things I like to keep in mind:

1} Each planet is very likely to have a local currency which is exchangeable for the Imperial Credit. These local currencies are backed by the local economy; and so higher TL worlds tend to have currencies which are worth more than lower TL worlds. Exchanging currencies is a great way to soak player groups of excess cash.

2} The Imperial Credit is backed by the Imperial economy; while this is nominally TL 15, it averages TL 12.

3} Banks which exchange currencies (ie, almost all of them) will need to ship dTons of foreign currency back to the issuing system or entity.

 

[MasterGwydion]

3} Banks which exchange currencies (ie, almost all of them) will need to ship dTons of foreign currency back to the issuing system or entity.

Pirates' dream haul. lol

 

[rinku]

Yeah. Much more sensible to make the thing being transferred useless if stolen.

You might still attack it as a means of preventing transfer, but that's more commerce raiding stuff.

 

[Condottiere]

Considering the rash of bitcoin kidnappings, it's quite possible that you can't turn off electronic currency, just trace it.

 

[rinku]

Yeah, I was very much more thinking of a physical token that banks send between branches to validate transfers, which would require several trips. Quite likely ONLY to move funds from one preestablished account to another, and only bothered with for large amounts. All a thief gets is a useless brick and the funds stay in the original account.

For medium amount transfers over one jump, you can probably get by with X-Boats (or equivalent private mail). Insurance (paid for by bank transfer fees) probably also applies.

 

[J. L. Brown]

Yeah. Much more sensible to make the thing being transferred useless if stolen.

You might still attack it as a means of preventing transfer, but that's more commerce raiding stuff.

The problem is that Travellers might leave Regina with a bunch of Regina-cash in their pockets -- physical coins and bills. When they show up at Lanth a helpful bank will let them (for a nice fee) convert those into Lanth-cash. The bank on Lanth ends up with Regina-cash coins and bills, which are useless on Lanth; and the issuing bank (maybe the central bank) on Regina has now paid to manufacture bills and coins which have disappeared -- to some degree this is 'seigniorage' and considered a good thing, but the Regina economy needs (or the bills and coins would never have been manufactured) to have cash to work.

So at some point a ship has to leave Lanth (headed for Regina) with a dTon or more of Regina-cash coins and bills. Those coins and bills are always going to be valuable. The ship might come back from Regina with (some) dTons of Lanth-cash bills and coins, an encrypted electronic bank draft, or goods from the market on Regina -- or a combination of all three.

Using currency from USA as an example, a dTon contains around 12250000 bills, US $12.25 million if all 'Ones'. Coins would be worth a bit less than ~US $2 million per dTon. Both would need to be shipped.

 

[Condottiere]

There should be several money changer booths in the starport.

Exchange rates would tend to skewed somewhat in their favour.

 

[MasterGwydion]

I normally deal only in Crimps, but if I need to use a local currency, I use the conversion chart from GURPS Far Trader for the exchange rates by TL.

 

[J. L. Brown]

I normally deal only in Crimps, but if I need to use a local currency, I use the conversion chart from GURPS Far Trader for the exchange rates by TL.

That is really convenient for the players, and it seems like a lot of groups just ignore local currencies. I like the verisimilitude and world-building from using local currencies, and find it is a handy way to skim a few credits from the group -- but every table is different.

My version of the GURPS FT exchange rate also involves a random 'mulitplier' to reflect monetary policy, history, and so on of each planet. Plant A is TL 15, but the local currency (Crowns) exchanges five Crowns to the CrImp; Planet B is also TL 15 but their currency (Solars) exchanges at one and a half CrImp to the Solar. Using the GURPS FT base exchange rates these would all be 1 to 1 to 1.

 

[MasterGwydion]

That is really convenient for the players, and it seems like a lot of groups just ignore local currencies. I like the verisimilitude and world-building from using local currencies, and find it is a handy way to skim a few credits from the group -- but every table is different.

My version of the GURPS FT exchange rate also involves a random 'mulitplier' to reflect monetary policy, history, and so on of each planet. Plant A is TL 15, but the local currency (Crowns) exchanges five Crowns to the CrImp; Planet B is also TL 15 but their currency (Solars) exchanges at one and a half CrImp to the Solar. Using the GURPS FT base exchange rates these would all be 1 to 1 to 1.

That works good as long as you are not worldbuildling a sector. Then it might make your brain explode trying to keep all of the trade in the different currencies straight. Remember, people trade in cash too. Dollars to Pounds. Pounds to the Euro. Euro to the Yuan. etc...

 

[rinku]

The problem is that Travellers might leave Regina with a bunch of Regina-cash in their pockets -- physical coins and bills. When they show up at Lanth a helpful bank will let them (for a nice fee) convert those into Lanth-cash. The bank on Lanth ends up with Regina-cash coins and bills, which are useless on Lanth; and the issuing bank (maybe the central bank) on Regina has now paid to manufacture bills and coins which have disappeared -- to some degree this is 'seigniorage' and considered a good thing, but the Regina economy needs (or the bills and coins would never have been manufactured) to have cash to work.

So at some point a ship has to leave Lanth (headed for Regina) with a dTon or more of Regina-cash coins and bills. Those coins and bills are always going to be valuable. The ship might come back from Regina with (some) dTons of Lanth-cash bills and coins, an encrypted electronic bank draft, or goods from the market on Regina -- or a combination of all three.

Using currency from USA as an example, a dTon contains around 12250000 bills, US $12.25 million if all 'Ones'. Coins would be worth a bit less than ~US $2 million per dTon. Both would need to be shipped.

If a bank is willing to do a currency exchange, they expect to get value from it. The Regina notes they exchanged would typically go into the foreign currency vault, for use when the next customer comes along headed for Regina that wants to exchange Lanth notes for Regina ones.

Hove you never used a currency exchange?

Also, the bank may well have local customers who are willing to do business in Regina-cash. Don't assume the local currency of a major world isn't accepted on another, at least on an ad hoc basis.

 

[Condottiere]

Undoubtedly, interstellar trade is quoted in Credit Imperiale.

What's more likely, foreign currency exchange controls dirtside.

Speculation is possible, since some economic, social, or political shift, might cause the perceived value of the local currency to change.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Undoubtedly, interstellar trade is quoted in Credit Imperiale.

What's more likely, foreign currency exchange controls dirtside.

Speculation is possible, since some economic, social, or political shift, might cause the perceived value of the local currency to change.

Wouldn't exchange controls on the Imperial Credit count as interference with trade and get them the hairy eyeball?

 

[J. L. Brown]

That works good as long as you are not worldbuildling a sector. Then it might make your brain explode trying to keep all of the trade in the different currencies straight. Remember, people trade in cash too. Dollars to Pounds. Pounds to the Euro. Euro to the Yuan. etc...

At the sector-construction level, I figure everything in CrImp. The major shipping houses might do their own currency exchange in-house for their own ships, or just accept some small percentage of their revenue has to go to exchange fees -- just another cost of doing business. But it isn't too onerous; a worlds currency is abstract until the characters interact with it. If I want to pre-load a few that they might encounter or that seem otherwise important I just note the name & a number (the multiplier over or under the expected GURPS FT rate for their TL).

In My Traveller Universe Drinax uses 'Dragons', which is about on par with 0.75 a TL 9 currency -- it would be higher, but the effective production on Drinax is not really TL 15 until after some successful development.

If a bank is willing to do a currency exchange, they expect to get value from it. The Regina notes they exchanged would typically go into the foreign currency vault, for use when the next customer comes along headed for Regina that wants to exchange Lanth notes for Regina ones.

Hove you never used a currency exchange?

Also, the bank may well have local customers who are willing to do business in Regina-cash. Don't assume the local currency of a major world isn't accepted on another, at least on an ad hoc basis.

I have used currency exchanges; many times.

But interstellar travel is more like 18th century age-of-sail, rather than today's computerized jet-setting world. There is no guarantee that some random traveller(s) are going to come along and need all your foreign-cash; nor is there a fast or easy way to check or plan ahead for that. If the local bank is carrying too much (essentially unusable) foreign-cash, then they are being irresponsible -- with complaints from investors and regulators to follow. And foreign currency is very likely to be essentially unusable; after the local currency, probably the second-most accepted currency is the CrImp -- and in distant third place is very close-by worlds that are important trade partners. This last is less 'We are happy to take this' and more 'We recognize what legal bills of this type are supposed to look like, and know where a local exchange is, so we will put up with this -- once'.

A local exchange might choose to swap their foreign-currency for CrImps; but this is just pushing the question of 'who is transporting currency' out one step to the Imperial Staport Authority or some such. Who knows, some portion of those 'mail canisters' might be filled with currency.

 

[Condottiere]

It's hard to say what would count as undue interference in that field.

I doubt it's a free for all, except in the Imperium run extraterritorial zones, like the starport.

Outside of that, local jurisdictions have control, except in probably explicit rights that Imperium citizens, especially non residential, enjoy.

Foreign exchange controls, unless really manipulated, usually don't impede trade.

Could also count as national/planetary security issue, to prevent capital flight, or control imports and exports.

 

[Sigtrygg]

By decree of His Imperial Majesty Cleon, Prime Lord of the Armed Forces, Archduke of Sylea, President of the Moot, Appellate Extraordinary, Defender of the Marches, Emperor of the Core, the Gateway, the Marches, Vland, Ilelish, Antares, and the Rim:

The currency that must be recognised as legal tender for interstellar trade is the Imperial Credit, all other forms of currency are forbidden.

All Imperial taxes and tariffs must be paid in Imperial Credits.

All member worlds must recognise Imperial credits as legal tender to be used for any planetary economic transaction.

No planetary currency may be transported from the issuing world.

 

[Condottiere]

1. Currency controls is one way the planetary government can accumulate enough Credit Imperiale to pay their taxes.

2. Financial instruments can utilize any form of currency.

 

[Longboat]

CT's JTAS has an article on currency exchange between worlds.

 

[WHULorigan]

I wonder if the TAS can be worked into this, providing some form of perk or benefit to its members in this regard?

 

[MasterGwydion]

Another possible value comes from the World Builder's Handbook, as it provides Traveller stats for present-day Earth (-2498 Imperial being equivalent to 2024):
View attachment 4953

In it it states that the Gross World Product is MCr73,600,000 or in other words, 73.6 trillion Credits. Earth's GDP in 2023 was 105,435 billion US dollars, as per the World Bank (couldn't find data for 2024 itself).
Therefore, if we assume both values to be correct, then the exchange ratio between the Credit (1105 Imperial) and the US Dollar (2023/2024) is roughly U$1 ≈ Cr0.698

Or in other words, Cr1 ≈ U$1.4325

The GNP of the 3I is 138,935,068,000,000,000. The total population of the 3I is 17,989,466,000,000. This gives a per capita of about 7,800Cr/yr at TL-15. Terra has a per capita of 9,216Cr/yr

Today's GWP is 105,000,000,000,000. The GWP of the example of Terra above is 73,600,000,000,000

I get an exchange rate of 1.43 Terran Credits to 1 Crimp or 1 Terran Credit to 0.7 Crimps

So, your math is right, but isn't the data in your Terra example in Crimps? So where did you get Dollars from? Or are you just calling the Terran Credit "Dollars"?