Yeah, space. As in the go-outside-and-look-up kind — that space. Didn't know you could spend money up there, did you? Well let me tell you all about it.

Space tourism is right around the corner, and there are some real fears going around about how today's cash, coins and cards won't be robust enough for tomorrow's galactic markets, what with all the sharp edges and vulnerable magnetic strips. Travelex thus submits the Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination, or QUID, for all your purchases off-world. Each stackable plastic coin will be harmlessly smooth, denote value with color, exude no harmful chemicals and feature all eight planets of our solar system on them so aliens know where they came from. The plan is to make them available in shops around the UK and on the net for the crazy rate of around $13 to the QUID.

Seriously though, coins in space? Coins? Humanity is going to look so two millennia ago. — Kevin Hall

Travelex, via BBC, via Engadget