Money is anything that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value, and occasionally, a standard of deferred payment. Money is an abstraction, idea or concept, token instances of which are the physical bills or coins which are carried and traded.

Money originated as commodity money, then evolved to easier-to-transport representative money, in which a certificate stands for a fixed quantity of a commodity. However, nearly all contemporary money systems at the national level are fiat money systems. Fiat money is without value as a physical commodity, and derives its value by being declared by a government to be legal tender; that is, it must be accepted as a form of payment within the national boundaries of the country, for "all debts, public and private". By law, the refusal of a legal tender (offering) extinguishes the debt in the same way acceptance does. Some bullion coins such as the Australian Gold Nugget and American Eagle are legal tender, however, they trade based on the market price of the metal content as a commodity, rather than their legal tender face value (which is usually only a small fraction of their bullion value).

The money supply of a country is usually held to consist of currency (banknotes and coins) and demand deposits or 'bank money' (the balance held in checking accounts and savings accounts). These demand deposits usually account for a much larger part of the money supply than currency. Bank money is intangible and exists only in the form of various bank records. Despite being intangible, bank money still performs the basic functions of money, as checks are generally accepted as a form of payment and as a means of transferring ownership of deposit money.

Money is commonly defined by the functions attached to any good or token that functions in trade as a medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account, although economics offers various definitions.

Contents

• 1 Sourced
• 2 Unsourced
• 3 Misattributed
• 4 See also
• 5 External links

Sourced

• Ploratur lacrimis amissa pecunia veris.
• Lost money is wept for with real tears.
  • Juvenal, Satires 13, v. 134

• Crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crescit, Et minus hanc optat, qu non habet.
• Translation: Increase of wealth increases our desires And hew, who least possesses, least requires.
• Alt. Translation: The love of money grows as the money itself grows.
  • Juvenal, Satires 14, v. 139

• If I can acquire money and also keep myself modest and faithful and magnanimous, point out the way, and I will acquire it.
  • Epictetus, "The Encheiridion, or Manual, XXIV" (c. 135 A.D.), as translated by George Long, The Discourses of Epictetus with the Encheiridion and Fragments (1890), p. 388

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Wed Oct 7 15:53:56 2009