Portal:Money

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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 Money Shot: The Pornhub Story was described by multiple reviewers as unsalacious?
... 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 medievalist Edward Rand rang the doorbell of Harvard president Charles William Eliot and asked him: "I would like to go to Harvard; do you have any money?"
... that the song "Money" by the Drums was certified gold by the RIAA over a decade after its initial release?
... that Frankie Saluto was a member of the Ringling Giants, a dwarf baseball team that raised money for charity?
... that Starbucks raised money for HIV/AIDS research using their red holiday cups?
... that in 1919, Ukrainians were using regular-issue paper money issued in denominations of 0.30, 0.40, 0.90, 1.80, 3.60 and 18 hryvnias?
... that Russian indie artist polnalyubvi bought her first guitar with money earned from busking with her violin?

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

Image 1Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, reverse. (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 2Gold coins are an example of legal tender that are traded for their intrinsic value, rather than their face value. (from Money)
Image 3President J. K. Paasikivi illustrated in a former Finnish 10 mark banknote from 1980 (from Money)
Image 4Money Base, M1 and M2 in the U.S. from 1981 to 2012 (from Money)
Image 5Banknotes of different currencies with a face value of 5000 (from Money)
Image 6Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, reverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 7Banknotes and coins (from Money)
Image 8Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 9Tibetan undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script,reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 10A 1914 British gold sovereign (from Money)
Image 11Paper money from different countries (from Money)
Image 12Printing paper money at a printing press in Perm (from Money)
Image 13US dollar banknotes (from Money)
Image 14Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 15Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, obverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 16Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 17Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, obverse. (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 18A person counts a bundle of different Swedish banknotes. (from Money)
Image 19Huizi currency, issued in 1160 (from Money)
Image 20"Bent bar" minted under Achaemenid administration, Gandhara, c.350 BC. (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 21Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 22Punch-marked coins discovered from Chandraketugarh. (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 23Athens coin (c. 500/490-485 BC) discovered in Pushkalavati. This coin is the earliest known example of its type to be found so far east. (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 24Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 25Tibetan undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script,obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 26Tenga of Muhammad Khudayar Khan, struck at the Kokand mint, dated 1862–1863 (from Kokand tenga)
Image 27A hoard of mostly Mauryan punch-marked coins (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 28A 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 29Song Dynasty Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money (from Money)
Image 30A check, used as a means of converting funds in a demand deposit to cash (from Money)
Image 31Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791),obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 32Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 33Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791),reverse (from Tibetan tangka)

In the news

4 July 2024 –: Tunisian opposition leader and founder of the Republican People's Union party Lotfi Mraïhi is arrested on suspicion of money laundering. (Al Jazeera)