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Fictional currency

Fictional currency is currency in works of fiction. It is often invented, bearing little or no resemblance to any modern or historic currency. This is a necessary plot device, in order to increment the completeness of the environment, and at the same time dissociate it from any known economy on earth. A very common type, especially in science fiction, is credits. This is easily recognizable as money, and different from all earthly currency. The use of credits may serve to prevent the reader from inferring a lot of significance to it, e.g. by maintaining lack of depth that may be inherent to a short story, or simply to prevent it from overshadowing more important themes. However, this term would be inappropriate for a work set in a more technologically primitive environment, such as a medieval fantasy novel. Generic money in this genre is typically constructed from one or more precious or semiprecious metals, such as copper, silver, gold, electrum, or even platinum, followed by coins or pieces.

On the other hand, currency frequently serves as another vehicle to flesh out a story. Examples include:

Last updated: 10-25-2005 01:48:13
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