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In the begining of "Birthright. Part I" episode (Star Trek Next Generation 6x16) an Yridian tells Worf, that he has a certain information,

that Worf's father is still alive (apparently not killed in Khitomer Massacre) and is held in a prison camp on Carraya IV.

Yridian is an information broker and agrees to reveal details (i.e. location) only for a price.

Worf agrees.

How or with what Worf would pay for this? There is no economic factor inside the Federation (no money is being used) and I don't recall anything, Worf would have on board Enterprise, that would have enough value for an information this kind.

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    "Tell me now and I will not disembowel you where you stand" ?
    – paul
    Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 11:29
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    There is no money used inside the federation. But there is money (latinum) used outside of it. Perhaps federation people who are in contact with non federation people (for example starfleet personel on border missions) are equipped with latinum to be able to interact with non federation people. I heard about european people who travel to USA equipped with Dollars, despite not using dollars at home. :-)
    – Hothie
    Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 11:31
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    Afterthought: the episode first aired in 1993. I know people born after that who have now graduated high school. Spoiler tags are not needed.
    – paul
    Commented Jan 24, 2015 at 8:47
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    @paul There are certain comments here, that suggests, that people finds spoilers in movies from fifties. I was born nearly fourty years ago, long before TNG started and I woulnd't find to nice to read about something, I've never watched so far. I think, spoilers are time-independent and has nothing to do with first air date or your born date. It is IMHO 100% related to the fact, whether you've already watched / read something or not.
    – trejder
    Commented Jan 24, 2015 at 10:59
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    @jpmc26 Ah, I see! :> Done, sir! :>
    – trejder
    Commented May 28, 2015 at 6:42

2 Answers 2

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Federation officers do seem to have credit accounts on DS9. Presumably they get a stipend from the UFP's own accounts to help them buy trinkets from the locals when visiting.

BASHIR: That better not be from a replicator, Quark.

QUARK: Chateau Cleon, twenty three oh three. I already put it on your account.

DS9 : The Adversary

and

WORF: Our wedding plans have changed. We are getting married here on Deep Space Nine. And I want you to be my Tawi'Yan.

DAX: Sword-bearer. It's sort of like a best man.

ALEXANDER: Me? Really? Oh, that's great!

(He throws out his arms and hits a waiter's tray which crashes onto a table.)

QUARK (turning to Worf and Dax) I'll put that on your tab.

DS9 : You are cordially invited

As a senior UFP officer, it also seems reasonable to assume that he would have the ability to simply write off certain expenses when they occur, in the same way that Beverly Crusher has the bolt of cloth charged to her account on the Enterprise in TNG: Encounter at Farpoint.

The Federation seem to almost treat latinum as monopoly money. Riker throws away 12 bars simply for hearing a rumour from Quark in TNG : First Born.

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    This misses the real way Worf paid the Yridian - by NOT killing him.
    – Tritium21
    Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 15:35
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    @Tritium21 - He does tell him he'll pay him though. He doesn't even haggle. Frankly, my impression is that Starfleet officers don't care about the money. They don't earn it, they just get given it to play with.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 15:53
  • If you look at the kind of power their ships can throw around and the kinds of things the replicators can just create without a second thought, the most likely explanation is that everyone inside the Federation is so ridiculously wealthy by outsiders' standards that Worf would have been doing the equivalent of throwing the fellow his pocket change, and so didn't care to haggle over it. It ties in decently with it only being the non-replicated stuff that had to actually be shipped that's worth paying for in Quark's bar.
    – Perkins
    Commented Jan 12, 2017 at 19:25
  • @Perkins - monopoly money
    – Valorum
    Commented Jan 12, 2017 at 19:36
  • @Valorum Quite, but it's not necessarily that nobody earns anything, it's just that, inside the Federation at least, anything less than a shuttlecraft is "chump change". Reputation and prestige are probably far more valuable than most physical assets thanks to cheap power and replicators.
    – Perkins
    Commented Jan 12, 2017 at 19:50
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In DS9 Starfleet personnel pay in Quark’s bar (and other locations) with gold-pressed latinum. So there seems to be a way for Federation people to get such money even if it is not used in the Federation itself.

I'm not aware if it is ever stated where they get the money from. I’m not sure about how canon this is, but http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Money states:

Money also continued to be used on many other alien worlds, and for certain limited purposes in the Federation itself, especially when dealing with non-Federation members.

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