In TNG, Picard says that the Federation has evolved past a need for money. Indeed, we never see any.
In DS9 though, Quark talks a lot about bar tabs and costs. Surely OāBrien and Bashir donāt get free drinks, so how do they pay? Iād assume that any Ferengi worth his lobes wonāt accept anything that can be replicated, so do Federation officers get a stipend of tradeable āvalueā when interacting with cultures that still expect payment?
I think thereās also a reference to Quark paying rent to Sisko for running the bar. Presumably thatās denominated in latinum. I wonder where it goes? Maybe the secret āGarak black opsā fund.
Another time money comes up is the episode, In the Cards, where Jake wants to buy a Willie Mays baseball card to cheer up his dad. He talks Nog into paying for it because as a Federation citizen Jake doesnāt have any money.
I found some of the dialogue on Memory Alpha:
I also imagine Starfleet officers in a non-Federation posting getting stipends. Or maybe Quark and other business owners bill the Federation for whatever Federation citizens buy? And maybe that arrangement doesnāt extend to the auction with the baseball card?
There are references to Jake buying from some of the stationās businesses. I think I remember him buying jom-jom sticks, and dining at the Klingon restaurant. (Did Jake ever use a holosuite on his own?) Iām thinking either Jake has some sort of allowance or stipend, and is exaggerating when he says he ādoesnāt have moneyā, or those businesses make special arrangements for Federation citizens.
This leads me to another thought: are station residents charged for using the replicators in their quarters? I imagine the replimat charging like other station businesses; so what about private replicators? Or maybe Iām wrong, and the replimat is a free public service?
Iām guessing replicator use would be free under Federation jurisdiction the same way Quark isnāt charged rent. But on the other hand, itās a Bajoran station - Starfleet only administers it. Now Iām wondering what kind of negotiating went on to get the struggling provisional government to pass up revenue from DS9 rental spaces.
You just know Bajor happily relinquished the potential income from rental spaces on the station in exchange for the Federation keeping their military presence there.
@hallettj The replimat is probably free. They likely donāt set up account for every Skreea. Itās just the public replicator place.
I mean, having walking around money and having Mom-style ānow thatās walking around moneyā (i.e. enough to buy a Willy Mays rookie card) are two different things.