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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Captain Euro is a fictional comic book superhero character, created in 1999 as a way to promote the European Union, and specifically the launch of the Euro, the single European currency that arrived in 2002. The character has been featured on a website (first at captaineuro.com, later at captaineuro.eu) since 1999. Captain Euro has been featured on comic books and comic strips available on its website and as comic books on Amazon. The website's contents are available only in English.

Captain Euro, the campaign, website and all the additional characters ans storylines were created by Nicolas De Santis of the consulting firm Twelve Stars for the EU. Twelve Stars was already working for the EU in various identity and brand projects, including with the European Parliament. (Full article...)

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The Latvian lats (plural: lati, plural genitive: latu, second Latvian lats ISO 4217 currency code: LVL) was the currency of Latvia from 1922 until 1940 and from 1993 until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014. A two-week transition period during which the lats was in circulation alongside the euro ended on 14 January 2014. The lats is abbreviated as Ls and was subdivided into 100 santīmi (singular: santīms; from French centime), abbreviated as an s after the santīm amount.

The Latvian lats has been recognized as one of the 99 entries of the Latvian Culture Canon. (Full article...)

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... that Russian money, known as qiang tie by locals, was used as legal currency in some regions of China for decades?
... that Neha Pendse, the lead actress of the Marathi film June, contributed some of her own money towards its production?
... that American first lady Lou Henry Hoover secretly sent money to families in need during the Great Depression?
... that a TV station in Windsor, Ontario, was spared from closure even though it lost money for ten consecutive years?
... that barley was once used as a form of money?
... that Ken Kortas lost money speculating on hog futures during his NFL career?
... that the façade of the Brooklyn Central Library was removed in an attempt to save money?
... 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 1Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, obverse. (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 2Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 3Song Dynasty Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money (from Money)
Image 4Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 5Punch-marked coins discovered from Chandraketugarh. (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 6Euro banknotes and coins (from Money)
Image 7A person counts a bundle of different Swedish banknotes. (from Money)
Image 8President J. K. Paasikivi illustrated in a former Finnish 10 mark banknote from 1980 (from Money)
Image 9Banknotes of different currencies with a face value of 5000 (from Money)
Image 10Ancient Jewish coin, engraved menorah, from the Hasmoneon kingdom 37-40 BCE (from Money)
Image 11“Babyal Hoard” type, of the Kuru Janapada (350 - 315 BCE) (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 12Tenga of Muhammad Khudayar Khan, struck at the Kokand mint, dated 1862–1863 (from Kokand tenga)
Image 13Huizi currency, issued in 1160 (from Money)
Image 14A check, used as a means of converting funds in a demand deposit to cash (from Money)
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 undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script, reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 17Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 18Gold coins are an example of legal tender that are traded for their intrinsic value, rather than their face value. (from Money)
Image 19Paper money from different countries (from Money)
Image 20"Bent bar" of the Gandhara Janapda unearthed with Achaemenid and Greek coins, Gandhara, c.350 BC. (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 21US dollar banknotes (from Money)
Image 22Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 23A 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 24Tibetan undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script, obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 25Money Base, M1 and M2 in the U.S. from 1981 to 2012 (from Money)
Image 26Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 27A 1914 British gold sovereign (from Money)
Image 28Silver, ½ Karshapana coin, “Babyal Hoard” type, of the Kuru Janapada (450 BC - 315 BC) (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 29Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 30Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 31Printing paper money at a printing press in Perm (from Money)
Image 32Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, reverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 33A hoard of mostly Mauryan punch-marked coins (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 34Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, reverse. (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 35Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)

In the news

25 June 2025 – Anti–money laundering § United States, War on drugs § Mexico: Mexican banks CIBanco, Intercam Banco, and Vector Casa de Bolsa—the latter owned by Alfonso Romo, former Chief of Staff to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador—are sanctioned by the United States government over alleged money laundering for drug cartels. Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum requests that the U.S. government provide evidence. (MSN) (Al Jazeera) (Forbes)
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)