Quark Stops Treasures From Making Mana, Rosewater Clarifies

Mark Rosewater clarified on Blogatog on November 3 that Quark’s restriction means you cannot sacrifice a Treasure, not that you can use its effect without paying that cost. Quark, Humble Proprietor says, “You can’t sacrifice Treasure tokens.” The card’s printed text gives each Treasure the ability “, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.”

Because sacrificing the token is part of that ability’s cost, you cannot activate it to make mana while Quark’s restriction applies. The restriction concerns sacrificing Treasures; it does not itself prohibit other uses that do not require sacrificing them.