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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 Flowing Hair dollar was the first dollar coin issued by the United States federal government. The coin was minted in 1794 and 1795; its size and weight were based on the Spanish dollar, which was popular in trade throughout the Americas.

In 1791, following a study by Alexander Hamilton, Congress passed a joint resolution calling for the establishment of a national mint. Later that year, in his third State of the Union address, President George Washington urged Congress to provide for a mint, which was officially authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. Despite the authorization, silver and gold coins were not struck until 1794. The Flowing Hair dollar, designed by Robert Scot, was initially produced in 1794, and again in 1795. In October 1795 the design was replaced by the Draped Bust dollar. (Full article...)

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... that Ken Kortas lost money speculating on hog futures during his NFL career?
... that the Gould Memorial Library once hosted pie-throwing contests to raise money?
... that to print money during the Indonesian National Revolution, Lukman Hakim had to lead a group to the town of Muara Bungo to find a printing machine?
... that Neha Pendse, the lead actress of the Marathi film June, contributed some of her own money towards its production?
... 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?
... that Russian money, known as qiang tie by locals, was used as legal currency in some regions of China for decades?
... that people are robbing Lebanese banks to get their own money back?
... that Starbucks raised money for HIV/AIDS research using their red holiday cups?

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

Image 1Printing paper money at a printing press in Perm (from Money)
Image 2US dollar banknotes (from Money)
Image 3Paper money from different countries (from Money)
Image 4A 640 BC one-third stater electrum coin from Lydia (from Money)
Image 5Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791),obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 6Money Base, M1 and M2 in the U.S. from 1981 to 2012 (from Money)
Image 7Banknotes and coins (from Money)
Image 8Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, obverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 9"Bent bar" minted under Achaemenid administration, Gandhara, c.350 BC. (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 10Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 11Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 12Gold coins are an example of legal tender that are traded for their intrinsic value, rather than their face value. (from Money)
Image 13Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 14Athens 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 15A check, used as a means of converting funds in a demand deposit to cash (from Money)
Image 16A 1914 British gold sovereign (from Money)
Image 17A person counts a bundle of different Swedish banknotes. (from Money)
Image 18Song Dynasty Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money (from Money)
Image 19Tenga of Muhammad Khudayar Khan, struck at the Kokand mint, dated 1862–1863 (from Kokand tenga)
Image 20Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 21Tibetan undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script,obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 22Punch-marked coins discovered from Chandraketugarh. (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 23Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, obverse. (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 24Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 25A hoard of mostly Mauryan punch-marked coins (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 26Huizi currency, issued in 1160 (from Money)
Image 27President J. K. Paasikivi illustrated in a former Finnish 10 mark banknote from 1980 (from Money)
Image 28Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, reverse. (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 29Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791),reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 30Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 31Tibetan undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script,reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 32Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, reverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 33Banknotes of different currencies with a face value of 5000 (from Money)