Betan dollar

The Betan dollar (BAY-tahn) was the unit of currency on Beta Colony. It was considered one of the hardest and most stable currencies in the Nexus. The exchange rate with the Barrayaran mark had been five marks to the dollar but improved to four after the War of the Hegen Hub.

A popular phrase, "I'll bet you Betan dollars...", reflected the currency's stability.

While it is impossible to directly compare future currencies with the values of modern ones, the following list of transactions can give an approximate sense of its value:

• Waldo handling fees for cargo on a jumpship was 310 Betan dollars.
• A largish amount of spending money for an 18-year-old was 500 Betan dollars.
• Jump pilot neural implants were worth many thousands of Betan dollars.
• 40,000 Betan dollars was the value of a jumpship that was about to be junked; it was also a high price for running a cargo from Beta Colony to Tau Verde IV.
• 20,000 Betan dollars was a high price to bid for a Jackson's Whole arrest order.
• A journey from Earth to Escobar cost Mark Vorkosigan 1000 Betan dollars.
• Ransoms to release Dendarii troopers from House Bharaputra, in Betan dollars were: 10,000 for troopers; 25,000 for officers; 50,000 for the leader. The total cost (about 250,000) was not much more than a drop mission would be.
• 1 million Betan dollars would roughly pay the costs of raising a group of 49 10-year-olds to adulthood.
• 2 million Betan dollars was about 2% of the value of House Ryoval.
• The actual cost to change a plaque-clearing prokaryote into an Illyan-killing one was something under 50,000 Betan dollars.
• A large collection of Barrayaran genotypes in sporulated form could be sold for 10 million Betan dollars.