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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Money burning or burning money is the purposeful act of destroying money. In the prototypical example, banknotes are destroyed by setting them on fire. Burning money decreases the wealth of the owner without directly enriching any particular party. It also reduces the money supply and (very slightly) slows down the inflation rate.

Money is usually burned to communicate a message, either for artistic effect, as a form of protest, or as a signal. In some games, a player can sometimes benefit from the ability to burn money (battle of the sexes). The burning of money is illegal in some jurisdictions. (Full article...)

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The Luxembourg franc (F or ISO LUF, Luxembourgish: Frang), subdivided into 100 centimes, was the currency of Luxembourg between 1854 and 2002, except from 1941 to 1944. From 1944 to 2002, its value was equal to that of the Belgian franc. The franc remained in circulation until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. (Full article...)

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... 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 Frankie Saluto was a member of the Ringling Giants, a dwarf baseball team that raised money for charity?
... 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 barley was once used as a form of money?
... that Bull Island was farmed by the Money family for over 100 years before being turned into a wildlife preserve?
... that Colin Stubs spent the prize money from his first international tennis title on an old Volkswagen to travel around Europe?
... that American first lady Lou Henry Hoover secretly sent money to families in need during the Great Depression?
... that Adam Kincaid of the National Republican Redistricting Trust defended lowered competition in US House elections, arguing that the changes would save the party money?

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

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