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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Bi-metallic coins are coins consisting of two (bi-) metals or alloys, generally arranged with an outer ring around a contrasting center. Common circulating examples include the €1, €2, United Kingdom £1 and £2, Canadian $2, South Africa R5, Egyptian £1, Turkish 1 lira and 50 kurus, Indian ₹10 and ₹20, Indonesian Rp1,000, Polish 2 and 5 zł, Czech 50 Kč, Hungarian 100 and 200 Ft, Bulgarian 1 and 2 lv., Hong Kong $10, Argentine $1 and $2, Brazilian R$1, Chilean $100 and $500, Colombian $500 and $1000, Peruvian S/2 and S/5, Albanian 100 Lekë, Thai 10 baht and all Mexican coins of $1 or higher denomination. For a more complete list, see List of bi-metallic coins. (Full article...)

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The ruble or rouble (Russian: рубль, romanized: rublʹ; symbol: ₽; ISO code: RUB) is the currency of the Russian Federation. Banknotes and coins are issued by the Central Bank of Russia, which is Russia's monetary authority independent of all other government bodies.

The ruble is the second-oldest currency in continuous use and the first decimal currency. The ruble was the currency of the Russian Empire, which was replaced by the Soviet ruble (code: SUR) during the Soviet period. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, by 1992, the Soviet ruble was replaced in the Russian Federation by the Russian ruble (code: RUR) at par. The Russian ruble then further continued to be used in 11 post-Soviet states, forming a "ruble zone" until 1993. The ruble was further redenominated with the new code "RUB" just preceding the 1998 Russian financial crisis, and was exchanged at the rate of 1,000 RUR = 1 RUB. (Full article...)

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... that barley was once used as a form of money?
... that American first lady Lou Henry Hoover secretly sent money to families in need during the Great Depression?
... that even though a village said that it did not want a church, Indonesian politician Thoriqul Haq allocated land and money to build one along with a musalla?
... that a group of parents discovered that a children's charity had been embezzling money?
... that Starbucks raised money for HIV/AIDS research using their red holiday cups?
... that Zack Kelly received a $500 signing bonus, lost money in his first professional seasons, and was released by two organizations before he made his Major League Baseball debut?
... that Colin Stubs spent the prize money from his first international tennis title on an old Volkswagen to travel around Europe?
... that the church that attempted to sell a Kansas radio station could not locate the money allegedly paid by the buyer?

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

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