Quote:
Originally Posted by David Johnston2
I have trouble believing that nobody would set themselves up as a moneychanger if the corporations aren't doing it unless there's so little contact between the colonies that it doesn't matter your money is only good on your colony.
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This. If there's enough economic payoff in doing the cross-frontier stuff at all, there
will be some kind of exchange, even if everybody deals in company scrip.
If John gets paid in Scrip A, but won't be back to planet A for a few years, and is on his way to Planet D, it's in his interest to trade his Scrip A to a newcomer from Planet D for Scrip D. Depending on circumtances, he might or might not have to take a hit on the value. If there's a middleman involved, and there likely will be if there are quite a few worlds and scrips and so forth, he'll take a cut.
But better 90 'dollars' of Scrip D that you can spend than 100 dollars of Scrip A you can't do anything with.
There'll also be some kind of exchange for whatever Earth uses for currency, too. The form it takes will depend on what Earth is using, and on the legality. The exchanges will exist whether legal or not, but the details will vary greatly depending on whether the exchanges are legal.