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Latinum:
A liquid which cannot be replicated or synthesized. Used as a dominant form of currency by the Ferengi. As it is difficult to properly measure liquid for currency transactions, premeasured amounts of latinum are inserted into hollow cores of gold bullion of various sizes, leading to the standard units: slip, strip, bar and brick. With the latinum removed, the gold is considered worthless.
For an exposition on the future of money and how latinum might come to be, see "Proposal for an Ideal Nano-Specie: Gold-Pressed Latinum" by Robert Freitas [1] (http://discuss.foresight.org/critmail/sci_nano/5447.html) [2] (http://www.rfreitas.com/Nano/TangibleNanomoney.htm).
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