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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Polymer banknotes are banknotes made from a synthetic polymer such as biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP). Such notes incorporate many security features not available in paper banknotes, including the use of metameric inks. Polymer banknotes last significantly longer than paper notes, causing a decrease in environmental impact and a reduced cost of production and replacement. Modern polymer banknotes were developed by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and The University of Melbourne. They were first issued as currency in Australia during 1988 (coinciding with Australia's bicentennial year); by 1996, the Australian dollar was switched completely to polymer banknotes. Romania was the first country in Europe to issue a plastic note in 1999 and became the third country after Australia and New Zealand to fully convert to polymer by 2003.

Other currencies that have been switched completely to polymer banknotes include: the Vietnamese đồng (2006) although this is only applied to banknotes with denominations above 5,000 đồng, the Brunei dollar (2006), the Nigerian Naira (2007), the Papua New Guinean kina (2008), the Canadian dollar (2013), the Maldivian rufiyaa (2017), the Mauritanian ouguiya (2017), the Nicaraguan córdoba (2017), the Vanuatu vatu (2017), the Eastern Caribbean dollar (2019), the Pound Sterling (2021) and the Barbadian dollar (2022). Several countries and regions have introduced polymer banknotes into commemorative or general circulation, including: Nigeria, Cape Verde, Chile, The Gambia, Trinidad and Tobago, Vietnam, Mexico, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Botswana, São Tomé and Príncipe, North Macedonia, Russia, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Morocco, Albania, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Israel, China, Kuwait, Mozambique, Saudi Arabia, Isle of Man, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Libya, Mauritius, Costa Rica, Honduras, Angola, Namibia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Samoa, Thailand and Bermuda. (Full article...)

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The guilder (Dutch: gulden, pronounced [ˈɣʏldə(n)] ^ⓘ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from 1434 until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro.

The Dutch name gulden was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning 'golden', and reflects the fact that, when first introduced in 1434, its value was about equal to (i.e., it was on par with) the Italian gold florin. The Dutch guilder was a de facto reserve currency in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. (Full article...)

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... 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 barley was once used as a form of money?
... that the song "Money" by the Drums was certified gold by the RIAA over a decade after its initial release?
... 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 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 a group of parents discovered that a children's charity had been embezzling money?
... that Russian money, known as qiang tie by locals, was used as legal currency in some regions of China for decades?
... that while executives believed the Golden Rondelle Theater would be a waste of money, it was one of the 1964 World's Fair's most popular attractions?

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

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

In the news

28 May 2025 – Corruption in Albania: Former Albanian president Ilir Meta is formally charged with corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, and concealing property from authorities. The charges were detailed in a report from anti-corruption prosecutors. Meta was arrested in October. (AP)