Plad Discs (3.5e Equipment)

Plad Discs
The galaxy is full of starfairing species, and trade between them is inevitable. The myriad of planets value many things from gold, diamonds, oil, or even water, but the primary currency of space is the palladium hydride disc, more commonly known as plads. The primary currency of the major space empires, plad discs are flat silver hued metallic rings alloyed with other metals (typically silver) and laminated in a thin plastic holographic coating. They are lightweight and durable, slighly flexible to the touch, and resemble certain data formats known as CDs. The value of the discs is related to the amount of hydrogen absorbed in its material, with the holographic coating acting both for durability and as a seal to pervent tampering and counterfeiting. The discs come in the following common formats:


 * Yoctoph, equal to the standard 1 copper piece. It is a gray disc with rust red rings on the outer rim.
 * Zeptoph, equal to the standard 1 silver piece. It is a tarnished silver with faint orange sparkles.
 * Attoph, equal to the standard 1 gold piece. It is silver with a mirror finish.
 * Femtoph, equal to the standard 1 platinium piece. It is silver with a pale green shine.
 * Picoph, equal to 100 gold pieces. It is silver with a navy sheen.
 * Nanoph, equal to 1000 gold pieces. It is bright silver-pale blue and glows faintly in the dark.

The official symbol for the currency is Å, but it is common to see them as units of pl or p, or in the local currency (which on many Earth worlds is g, for Gold). All plad discs weight roughly the same amount, 1 lb for 1000 discs.