Object

Goss's Sack of Gold Bars

A heavy, dark burlap sack cinched with a worn braided cord, its belly distended by stacked, palm-sized rectangular gold bars whose bright, burnished faces catch and scatter light. The sack droops when placed on the table and emits a metallic rattle as the bars shift; Goss grips the cord, upends the sack, and a hard, staccato cascade of bars clatters and skids across the conference table, provoking recoils, startled glances, and shattered solemnity among the delegates.

2 appearances

Purpose

To contain, transport, and conceal high-value bullion (gold bars); used here to deliver physical payment or a bribe to another party.

Significance

Operates as a theatrical instrument of Ferengi ostentation that violently converts a moral-political negotiation into a mercantile spectacle, puncturing Premier Bhavani's solemnity, unnerving Picard, testing Riker's control, and escalating tension by signaling opportunistic, material-first tactics.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S3E8 · The Price

Barzan's Plea and the Ferengi Show of Force

Kol presents Goss with a heavy burlap sack containing stacked gold bars. Goss upends the sack, spilling gold across the conference table. The sack and contents function as an aggressive rhetorical device—transforming negotiation into a marketplace transaction and forcing visible reactions from delegates.

Before: In Kol's possession, cinched and filled with gold bars, carried by Ferengi into the observation deck.

After: Upended and emptied across the tabletop; gold bars scattered on the table within the meeting room under Goss’s implied control.

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S3E8 · The Price

Goss's Golden Disruption — Ferengi Ostentation Upsets the Table

Goss uses the heavy burlap sack as a theatrical prop: Kol hands it to him and he upends it over the conference table to spill gold bars, turning the sack into a visible bribe and narrative pivot that shifts focus from policy to profit.

Before: In Ferengi possession, cinched and carried by Kol off-stage until Goss requests it at the table.

After: Emptied across the tabletop; sack remains present but bereft of its contents, its purpose fulfilled as a provocation.

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