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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The Coinage Act of 1965, Pub. L. 89–81, 79 Stat. 254, enacted July 23, 1965, eliminated silver from the circulating United States dime (ten-cent piece) and quarter dollar coins. It also reduced the silver content of the half dollar from 90 percent to 40 percent; silver in the half dollar was subsequently eliminated by a 1970 law.

There had been coin shortages beginning in 1959, and the United States Bureau of the Mint expanded production to try to meet demand. The early 1960s was a time of increased use of silver both in the coinage and in industry, putting pressure on the price of silver, which was capped at just over $1.29 per ounce by government sales at that price. The silver in a dollar's worth of quarters would be worth more as bullion than as money if the price of the metal rose past $1.38 per ounce, and there was widespread hoarding of silver coins. Demand for the Kennedy half dollar as a collectable drove it from circulation after its debut in 1964. The Bureau of the Mint increased production, helping reduce the coin shortages by May 1965, but government stocks of silver were being rapidly reduced, and threatened to run out by 1968. After extensive study by the Treasury Department, President Lyndon B. Johnson in June 1965 recommended that Congress pass legislation to allow for silverless dimes and quarters, and debased silver half dollars. Although there was some opposition, mainly from legislators representing Western mining states, the bill progressed rapidly through Congress, and was enacted with Johnson's signature on July 23, 1965. (Full article...)

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The South Korean won, sometimes known as the Republic of Korea won (symbol: ₩; code: KRW; Korean: 대한민국 원), is the official currency of South Korea. A single won is divided into 100 jeon, the monetary subunit. The jeon is no longer used for everyday transactions, and it appears only in foreign exchange rates. The currency is issued by the Bank of Korea, based in the capital city of Seoul. (Full article...)

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... that a group of parents discovered that a children's charity had been embezzling money?
... that the general manager of a Cleveland TV station believed its owner to be "just tired of losing money"?
... that people are robbing Lebanese banks to get their own money back?
... that Everyone Hates Elon invited members of the public to destroy a Tesla Model S to raise money for food banks?
... that a nuclear reactor was nearly built at the New York Hall of Science, but the money for the institution instead went to Yankee Stadium?
... that modernist architect Paul Rudolph was said to have run out of money three times while designing the Modulightor Building?
... that Ivan I of Moscow earned the nickname "Kalita", which literally means 'money bag'?
... that Starbucks raised money for HIV/AIDS research using their red holiday cups?

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

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