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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1855 portrait

James Barton Longacre (August 11, 1794 – January 1, 1869) was an American portraitist and engraver, and the fourth chief engraver of the United States Mint from 1844 until his death. Longacre is best known for designing the Indian Head cent, which entered commerce in 1859, and for the designs of the Shield nickel, Flying Eagle cent and other coins of the mid-19th century.

Longacre was born in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in 1794. He ran away to Philadelphia at age 12, where he became an apprentice in a bookstore. His artistic talent developed and he was released to apprentice in an engraving firm. He struck out on his own in 1819, making a name providing illustrations for popular biographical books. He portrayed the leading men of his day; support from some of them, such as South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun, led to his appointment as chief engraver after the death of Christian Gobrecht in 1844. (Full article...)

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Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word pound is also used to refer to the British currency generally, often qualified in international contexts as the British pound or the pound sterling.

Sterling is the world's oldest currency in continuous use since its inception. In 2022, it was the fourth-most-traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro, and the Japanese yen. Together with those three currencies and the renminbi, it forms the basket of currencies that calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights. As of late 2022, sterling is also the fourth most-held reserve currency in global reserves. (Full article...)

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Did you know -

... that the church that attempted to sell a Kansas radio station could not locate the money allegedly paid by the buyer?
... that the song "Money" by the Drums was certified gold by the RIAA over a decade after its initial release?
... that people are robbing Lebanese banks to get their own money back?
... that Russian indie artist polnalyubvi bought her first guitar with money earned from busking with her violin?
... 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 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 Everyone Hates Elon invited members of the public to destroy a Tesla Model S to raise money for food banks?
... that the façade of the Brooklyn Central Library was removed in an attempt to save money?

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General images -

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

Image 1Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 2Euro banknotes and coins (from Money)
Image 3Café in Delft accepting Bitcoin (from Money)
Image 4"Babyal Hoard" type, of the Kuru Janapada (350–315 BCE) (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 5Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, obverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 6Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, reverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 7US dollar banknotes (from Money)
Image 8President J. K. Paasikivi illustrated in a former Finnish 10 mark banknote from 1980 (from Money)
Image 9Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 10Tibetan undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script, reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 11Tenga of Muhammad Khudayar Khan, struck at the Kokand mint, dated 1862–1863 (from Kokand tenga)
Image 12Huizi currency, issued in 1160 (from Money)
Image 13A hoard of mostly Mauryan punch-marked coins (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 14A 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 15Money Base, M1 and M2 in the U.S. from 1981 to 2012 (from Money)
Image 16Paper money from different countries (from Money)
Image 17Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, obverse. (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 18Silver, ½ Karshapana coin, “Babyal Hoard” type, of the Kuru Janapada (450–315 BC) (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 19Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 20A check, used as a means of converting funds in a demand deposit to cash (from Money)
Image 21Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 22A person counts a bundle of different Swedish banknotes. (from Money)
Image 23Banknotes of different currencies with a face value of 5000 (from Money)
Image 24Ancient Jewish coin, engraved menorah, from the Hasmoneon kingdom 37-40 BCE (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 26Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), reverse (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 28Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 29Song Dynasty Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money (from Money)
Image 30Printing paper money at a printing press in Perm (from Money)
Image 31Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, reverse. (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 32Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 33Punch-marked coins discovered from Chandraketugarh. (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 34Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 35Gold coins are an example of legal tender that are traded for their intrinsic value, rather than their face value. (from Money)
Image 36A 1914 British gold sovereign (from Money)