The Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination (QUID) is a proposed "space currency" created as a

viral marketing Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way tha ...

campaign launched by

Travelex Travelex is a foreign exchange company founded by Lloyd Dorfman and headquartered in Peterborough. Its main businesses are foreign currency exchange, issuing prepaid credit cards for use by travellers, supplying central banks with foreign curre ...

with the London-based

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

and advertising firm, talkPR. The full name is a

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

from 'quid', a slang term for the

British Pound Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, an ...

. The campaign stated that Travelex was launching a new form of money for

space tourists Space tourism is human space travel for recreational purposes. There are several different types of space tourism, including orbital, suborbital and lunar space tourism. During the period from 2001 to 2009, seven space tourists made eight s ...

that had no sharp edges, was chemically inert, and had other advantages over paper money.

The QUID

After coming up with the idea of a space-money campaign, talkPR and Travelex contacted the

National Space Centre The National Space Centre is a museum and educational resource covering the fields of space science and astronomy, along with a space research programme in partnership with the University of Leicester. It is located on the north side of the city ...

, whose employees were presented with a number of mockups made by the campaign artists and were asked to select one. The end result was a series of circular clear discs with colored centers, symbolizing the eight

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

s of the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

inside, and denominations ranging from 1 to 10. Each quid coin would have its own unique code number, similar to the serial number on

paper currency A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

, to allow

tracking Tracking may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Tracking, in computer graphics, in match moving (insertion of graphics into footage) * Tracking, composing music with music tracker software * Eye tracking, measuring the position of t ...

, and to prevent counterfeiting. Travelex stated it planned to work with the Bank of England to begin registering the QUID as possible legal currency in the future. On October 5, 2007, a one-page press statement announcing the QUID was released and placed on the

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...

press release newswire. The campaign was launched in the midst of intense press coverage of the

Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and his British Virgin Group retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The compan ...

news. The story was picked up by major news agencies in the UK, and soon after, the US. Science magazines and technological blog writers weighed in on the topic, calling it "useless" and "nonsense", further spreading the story. Statements by members of the NSC and the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

(who started the NSC) were added to the campaign release. When the campaign concluded, NSC received the resulting coins and put them on display in their Space, Now display.

References

External links

DVICE: Travelex QUID: "Intergalactic currency" for your next trip into spaceRes Communis blog: Space Law and Space Money
{{space tourism Private currencies Space tourism Numismatics

The QUID

See also

References

External links