This seem more realistic? Why would Quark accept the gems, rubies, diamonds, when it's established that those are worthless since at least the 23rd century and can be manufactured. If they are some kind of special gems, rubies, diamonds that cannot be manufactured, how could quark know that by a quick glance?
If you're going to start a new thread please try to at least post something that will generate some discussion. At the very least you should have offered your own comments on the video you posted. Edit: I have agreed to reopen this thread so that more content can be added. To all posters, please note that as a thread starter it is your job to get the conversation started. Simply pasting links is not enough. Thanks.
Quark saw something he thought he could make money from. He probably thought that more people from the Gamma Quadrant would be coming through and the gems would be of value to them. Perhaps also he thought there may be others who would want to purchase the gems just as some trinkets to have.
Why not just replicate them? Or maybe he just wanted the gems so he could store the molecular pattern of them. But why didnt he behave the same way about the sticks?
Some people prefer naturally-sourced items. Both synthetic/cultured and natural diamonds/pearls are sold now.
Following shortly after the auction in Q-Less, Quark likely would have viewed them as more rare treasures from Gamma Quadrant. Even if he didn't care for them himself, their was clearly a demand for such items.
It's all about preserving the scarcity. The same reason art collectors hate the concept of instructional art, and won't accept an exact duplicate of an artwork as art. Because accepting anything except the original would reduce the scarcity and therefore the value of the original.
They contradict this kind of thing in the series itself. Quark said "Gold's good" during Little Green Men but on "Who Mourns for Mourn" he's outraged that it was just "Worthless Gold".
Somebody with the lobes for business would know when to accept excretement for payment and make a profit from it. Intrinsic value is uninteresting if one can make value on one's own, i.e. through trade. By the same token, value can change depending on circumstances. And with customers as diverse as Quark's, excretement or gold might sell well on Tuesday and Friday but not on Wednesday or Thursday. Timo Saloniemi
Quark was 400 years in the past when he was offered gold. At that time, they didn't have replicator technology, so gold would actually be worth something.
Also in that same episode, he said "You know, some primitive cultures actually consider gold quite valuable".