Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as legal tender 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... )
A 1926 promissory note from the Imperial Bank of India , Rangoon, Burma for 20,000 rupees plus interest
A promissory note , sometimes referred to as a note payable , is a legal instrument (more particularly, a financing instrument and a debt instrument), in which one party (the maker or issuer ) promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other (the payee ), subject to any terms and conditions specified within the document. (Full article... )
The apsar (Abkhaz : аԥсар , āpsār ) is a currency of Abkhazia . So far, coins in denominations of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, and 100 apsars and banknotes in denominations of 10, 25, 50, 100, and 500 apsars have been issued. While the coins and banknotes are legal tender in the Republic of Abkhazia, their usage is limited, and they are mostly made for collectors. In Abkhazia, the Russian ruble is used in practice. The first apsar coins were introduced in 2008.
The name derives from the Apsars, a tribe mentioned in The Georgian Chronicles who inhabited the region in the Middle Ages and who are believed to be the ancestors of the Abkhaz people . (Full article... )
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The following are images from various currency-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 Gold coins are an example of legal tender that are traded for their intrinsic value, rather than their face value. (from
Money )
Image 2 Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), obverse (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 3 Huizi currency , issued in 1160 (from
Money )
Image 4 Money Base, M1 and M2 in the U.S. from 1981 to 2012 (from
Money )
Image 5 Punch-marked coins discovered from
Chandraketugarh . (from
Punch-marked coins )
Image 6 Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791), obverse (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 7 A 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 8 A check, used as a means of converting funds in a
demand deposit to cash (from
Money )
Image 9 Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, reverse. (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 10 Silver, ½ Karshapana coin, “Babyal Hoard” type, of the Kuru Janapada (450 BC - 315 BC) (from
Punch-marked coins )
Image 11 A 1914 British
gold sovereign (from
Money )
Image 12 Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), obverse (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 13 Paper money from different countries (from
Money )
Image 14 Ancient Jewish coin , engraved
menorah , from the
Hasmoneon kingdom 37-40 BCE (from
Money )
Image 15 A person counts a bundle of different
Swedish banknotes. (from
Money )
Image 16 Printing paper money at a printing press in
Perm (from
Money )
Image 17 Undated Kelzang tangka (1910), reverse (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 18 Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), reverse (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 19 A hoard of mostly
Mauryan punch-marked coins (from
Punch-marked coins )
Image 20 "Bent bar" of the Gandhara Janapda unearthed with Achaemenid and Greek coins,
Gandhara , c.350 BC. (from
Punch-marked coins )
Image 21 Tibetan undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script, obverse (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 23 Tenga of
Muhammad Khudayar Khan , struck at the Kokand mint, dated 1862–1863 (from
Kokand tenga )
Image 24 Tibetan undated silver tangka, struck in 1953/54, obverse. (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 25 Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), obverse (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 26 Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791), reverse (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 27 Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, obverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 28 US dollar banknotes (from
Money )
Image 29 Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, reverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 30 Banknotes of different currencies with a face value of 5000 (from
Money )
Image 31 “Babyal Hoard” type, of the Kuru Janapada (350 - 315 BCE) (from
Punch-marked coins )
Image 32 President
J. K. Paasikivi illustrated in a former Finnish
10 mark banknote from 1980 (from
Money )
Image 33 Tibetan undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script, reverse (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 34 Tibetan "gaden" Tangka, undated (ca. AD 1840), reverse (from
Tibetan tangka )
Image 35 Song Dynasty
Jiaozi , the world's earliest paper money (from
Money )
23 September 2025 – Flood control projects controversy in the Philippines
The Philippine Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation file criminal graft and malversation charges against senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva , representative Zaldy Co , former representative Mitch Cajayon-Uy , and two former public works officials in connection with investigations into alleged corruption in flood control projects with the Anti–Money Laundering Council freezing their assets . (Gulf News ) (Rappler)
23 September 2025 –
Italy 's Guardia di Finanza arrests five people and seizes € 17 million (US$ 20 million) while dismantling a Syrian -led network that laundered drug-trafficking proceeds in France and Italy by converting cash into gold , in an investigation coordinated with the National Gendarmerie , Eurojust , and Europol . (Reuters)
16 September 2025 – Flood control projects controversy in the Philippines
The Philippine Court of Appeals orders the freezing of 135 bank accounts and 27 insurance policies linked to individuals and companies under investigation for alleged corruption in flood control projects, following a request by the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Anti–Money Laundering Council . (Reuters)
3 September 2025 – Odebrecht case
A Peruvian court sentences former president Alejandro Toledo to 13 years and four months in prison for laundering S/ 18 million (US$5.1 million) in bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht through offshore accounts to purchase and refinance properties in Lima , with the sentence to run concurrently with his earlier conviction for accepting S/124 million ($35 million) in kickbacks . (Reuters)
28 August 2025 –
Brazilian federal police and the taxation authority conduct nationwide raids targeting organized crime schemes in the energy sector , investigating money laundering and fraud involving more than R$ 10 billion (US$ 1.9 billion) in imports , R$52 billion (US$9.7 billion) in domestic sales, and R$46 billion (US$8.6 billion) in related financial transactions. (Reuters)
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