Portal:Money

The Money Portal

Euro coins and banknotes

Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value and sometimes, a standard of deferred payment.

Money was historically an emergent market phenomenon that possessed intrinsic value as a commodity; nearly all contemporary money systems are based on unbacked fiat money without use value. Its value is consequently derived by social convention, having been declared by a government or regulatory entity to be legal tender; that is, it must be accepted as a form of payment within the boundaries of the country, for "all debts, public and private", in the case of the United States dollar.

The money supply of a country comprises all currency in circulation (banknotes and coins currently issued) and, depending on the particular definition used, one or more types of bank money (the balances held in checking accounts, savings accounts, and other types of bank accounts). Bank money, whose value exists on the books of financial institutions and can be converted into physical notes or used for cashless payment, forms by far the largest part of broad money in developed countries. (Full article...)

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Portrait by Carl Frederik von Breda, 1792

Matthew Boulton FRS (/ˈboʊltən/ ^ⓘ BOHL-tən; 3 September 1728 – 17 August 1809) was an English businessman, inventor, mechanical engineer, and silversmith. He was a business partner of the Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the mechanisation of factories and mills. Boulton applied modern techniques to the minting of coins, striking millions of pieces for Britain and other countries, and supplying the Royal Mint with up-to-date equipment.

Born in Birmingham, he was the son of a Birmingham manufacturer of small metal products who died when Boulton was 31. By then Boulton had managed the business for several years, and thereafter expanded it considerably, consolidating operations at the Soho Manufactory, built by him near Birmingham. At Soho, he adopted the latest techniques, branching into silver plate, ormolu ("gilt bronze") and other decorative arts. He became associated with James Watt when Watt's business partner, John Roebuck, was unable to pay a debt to Boulton, who accepted Roebuck's share of Watt's patent as settlement. He then successfully lobbied Parliament to extend Watt's patent for an additional 17 years, enabling the firm to market Watt's steam engine. The firm installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines in Britain and abroad, initially in mines and then in factories. (Full article...)

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The two-cent piece was produced by the Mint of the United States for circulation from 1864 to 1872 and for collectors in 1873. Designed by James B. Longacre, there were decreasing mintages each year, as other minor coins such as the nickel proved more popular. It was abolished by the Mint Act of 1873.

The economic turmoil of the American Civil War caused government-issued coins, even the non-silver Indian Head cent, to vanish from circulation, hoarded by the public. One means of filling this gap was private token issues, often made of bronze. The cent at that time was struck of a copper-nickel alloy, the same diameter as the later Lincoln cent, but somewhat thicker. The piece was difficult for the Philadelphia Mint to strike, and Mint officials, as well as the annual Assay Commission, recommended the coin's replacement. Despite opposition from those wishing to keep the metal nickel in the coinage, led by Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, Congress passed the Coinage Act of 1864, authorizing bronze cents and two-cent pieces. (Full article...)

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... that the church that attempted to sell a Kansas radio station could not locate the money allegedly paid by the buyer?
... that barley was once used as a form of money?
... that a group of parents discovered that a children's charity had been embezzling money?
... that placekicker Cam Little donated money to a Down syndrome organization for every field goal he made?
... that Neha Pendse, the lead actress of the Marathi film June, contributed some of her own money towards its production?
... that the façade of the Brooklyn Central Library was removed in an attempt to save money?
... that the first women's dormitory built at Hampton University was partially paid for with money collected by the school's choir in tours led by Thomas P. Fenner?
... that American first lady Lou Henry Hoover secretly sent money to families in need during the Great Depression?

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The following are images from various currency-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Printing paper money at a printing press in Perm (from Money)
Image 2Tibetan undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script, obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 3Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 4Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, obverse. (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 5Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 6Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, obverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 7Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, reverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 8Banknotes of different currencies with a face value of 5000 (from Money)
Image 9Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 10Paper money from different countries (from Money)
Image 11Tibetan undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script, reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 12Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, reverse. (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 13A 640 BC one-third stater electrum coin from Lydia. According to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coins. It is thought by modern scholars that these first stamped coins were minted around 650 to 600 BC. (from Money)
Image 14A person counts a bundle of different Swedish banknotes. (from Money)
Image 15Gold coins are an example of legal tender that are traded for their intrinsic value, rather than their face value. (from Money)
Image 16A 1914 British gold sovereign (from Money)
Image 17Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 18President J. K. Paasikivi illustrated in a former Finnish 10 mark banknote from 1980 (from Money)
Image 19Punch-marked coins discovered from Chandraketugarh. (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 20A check, used as a means of converting funds in a demand deposit to cash (from Money)
Image 21Ancient Jewish coin, engraved menorah, from the Hasmoneon kingdom 37-40 BCE (from Money)
Image 22“Babyal Hoard” type, of the Kuru Janapada (350 - 315 BCE) (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 23Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 24Money Base, M1 and M2 in the U.S. from 1981 to 2012 (from Money)
Image 25Huizi currency, issued in 1160 (from Money)
Image 26US dollar banknotes (from Money)
Image 27Tenga of Muhammad Khudayar Khan, struck at the Kokand mint, dated 1862–1863 (from Kokand tenga)
Image 28Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 29Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 30"Bent bar" of the Gandhara Janapda unearthed with Achaemenid and Greek coins, Gandhara, c.350 BC. (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 31A hoard of mostly Mauryan punch-marked coins (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 32Euro banknotes and coins (from Money)
Image 33Silver, ½ Karshapana coin, “Babyal Hoard” type, of the Kuru Janapada (450 BC - 315 BC) (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 34Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 35Song Dynasty Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money (from Money)