FACTOID # 72: There are 22 countries where more than half the population is illiterate. Fifteen of them are in Africa.
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

FACTS & STATISTICS    Simple view

  1. Select countries to view: (hold down Control key and click to select several)

     

     

    Compare:

     

     

  1. Select fact or statistic: (* = graphable)

     

     

     

  2. (OPTIONAL) Compare to statistic: (both need to be graphable)

     

     

     

  3. View result as:

     

       
(OR) SEARCH ALL encyclopedia, stats & forums:   

Encyclopedia > Bank note
A £20 Ulster Bank banknote.
A £20 Ulster Bank banknote.

A banknote (more commonly known as a bill in the United States and Canada) is a kind of currency, issued as legal tender. With coins, banknotes make up the cash forms of all modern money. With the exception of non-circulating high-value or precious metal commemorative issues, coins are generally used for lower valued monetary units, while banknotes are utilised for higher values. Ulster Bank £20 illo This work is copyrighted. ... Ulster Bank £20 illo This work is copyrighted. ... Legal tender is payment that cannot be refused in settlement of a debt. ... 1¢ euro coin A coin is generally a piece of hard material, generally metal and usually in the shape of a disc, which is used as a form of money. ... Money is a marketable good or token that acts as a store of value, a medium of exchange and a unit of account. ...


Banknotes were first issued because carrying around a lot of precious metal was cumbersome and often dangerous. Banknotes were originally a claim to an amount of precious metal stored in a vault somewhere. In this way the stored value (usually in gold or silver coins) backing the banknote could transfer ownership in exchange for goods or services. The ability to exchange a note for some other kind of value is called "convertibility", for example a US silver certificate from the early 20th century was "payable in silver on demand" from the Treasury. If a note is payable in demand for a fixed unit, it is said to be fully convertible to that unit. Limited convertibility occurs when there are restrictions in the time, place, manner or amount of exchange.


Today, this is no longer true; the currency of all countries is now fiat money not backed by gold or silver. There are a few alternative currency systems such as the Liberty dollar which are so backed, or the Ithaca Hours which are backed by the labor of the people of Ithaca, NY. Fiat money or fiat currency, usually paper money, is a type of currency whose only value is that a government made a fiat (i. ... American Liberty Dollars The Liberty dollar is an alternative form of currency issued in the United States by a non-profit organization known as NORFED. The paper currency is backed by precious metal (silver and gold bullion) and is redeemable when presented at a NORFED Regional Currency Office. ... Ithaca Hours is a local currency in Ithaca, New York. ... For census data on the two municipalities called Ithaca see Ithaca (city), New York and Ithaca (town), New York. ...


History of paper money

Paper money originated in two forms: drafts, that is receipts for value held on account, and "bills", which were issued with a promise to convert at a later date.


Money is based on the coming to pre-eminence of some commodity as payment. The oldest monetary basis was for agricultural capital: cattle and grain. In Ancient Mesopotamia, drafts were issued against stored grain as a unit of account. A "drachma" was a weight of grain. Japan's feudal system was based on rice per year – koku. At the same time, legal codes enforced the payment for injury in a standardized form, usually in precious metals. The development of money then comes from the role of agricultural capital and precious metals having a privileged place in the economy. Drachma, pl. ... A koku (石) is a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year, then as 180. ...


Such drafts were used for giro systems of banking as early as Ptolemaic Egypt in the first century BC. See also Giro dItalia. ...


However the use of paper money as a circulating medium is intimately related to shortages of metal for coins. In the 600s there were local issues of paper currency in China and by 960 the Song Dynasty, short of copper for striking coins, issued the first generally circulating notes. A note is a promise to redeem later for some other object of value, usually specie. The issue of credit notes is often for a limited duration, and at some discount to the promised amount later. The original notes were restricted in area and duration, but the Yuan Dynasty, facing massive shortages of specie to fund their occupation of China, began printing paper money without restrictions on duration. By 1455, in an effort to rein in economic expansion and end hyperinflation, the new Ming Dynasty ended paper money, and closed much of Chinese trade. Centuries: 6th century 7th century 8th century Decades: 550s - 560s - 570s - 580s - 590s - 600s - 610s - 620s - 630s - 640s - 650s Years: 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 Events: Births: Deaths: 604 - Pope Gregory I the Great Categories: 600s ... Events Edgar the Peaceable crowned King of England. ... Alternative meaning: Song Dynasty (420-479) The Song dynasty (Chinese: 宋朝) was a ruling dynasty in China from 960-1279. ... The Yuan Dynasty (Mongolian: Dai Ön Yeke Mongghul Ulus; Chinese: 元朝) lasting officially from 1271 to 1368, also called the Mongol Dynasty, was the name given to the significant ruling family of Borjigin in Asia. ... Events February 9 - Wars of the Roses: Richard, Duke of York dismissed as Protector February 23 - Johannes Gutenberg prints the first Bible on a printing press May 22 - Wars of the Roses: First Battle of St Albans - Richard, Duke of York and his ally, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick defeat... The Ming Dynasty (Chinese: 明朝; Pinyin: míng cháo) was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, though claims to the Ming throne (now collectively called the Southern Ming) survived until 1662. ...


In Europe the first banknotes were issued by Stockholms Banco, a predecessor of the Bank of Sweden, in 1660, although the bank ran out of coins to redeem its notes in 1664 and ceased operating in that year. It was 1694 when the Bank of England issued the first permanently circulating banknotes. The use of fixed denominations and printed banknotes came into use in the 18th century. World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Sveriges Riksbank is the central bank of Sweden, sometimes called just the Bank of Sweden. ... Events Expulsion of the Carib indigenous people from Martinique by French occupying forces. ... Events March 12 - New Jersey becomes a colony of England. ... Events February 6 - The colony Quilombo dos Palmares is destroyed. ... The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom, sometimes known as The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street or The Old Lady. The Bank of England Functions of the bank It performs all the recognized functions of a central bank -- to maintain price stability, and subject to... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...


Most banknotes are made of heavy paper, sometimes mixed with linen, cotton, or other textile fibres. Some countries including Mexico and Australia produce polymer banknotes made from plastic in order to improve wear and tear, and permit the inclusion of a small transparent window a few millimetres in size as a security feature that is very difficult to reproduce using common counterfeiting techniques. Piece of paper Paper is a thin, flat material produced by the compression of fibres. ... Torn linen cloth, recovered from the Dead Sea Linen is a material made from the fibers of the flax plant. ... Cotton is a soft fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old World and the New World. ... The first Guardian polymer banknote in circulation. ... The term plastics covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic polymerization products. ... A counterfeit is an imitation that is made with the intent to deceptively represent its content or origins. ...


See also

For information about banknotes of particular countries or of the European Union: For other uses, see Bank (disambiguation). ... The first Guardian polymer banknote in circulation. ...

The Australian dollar, AUD or A$, is the official currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including the Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu. ... British banknotes are the banknotes of the United Kingdom and British Islands, denominated in pounds sterling (GBP). ... The Canadian dollar, CAD or C$, is the unit of currency of Canada. ... The euro symbol The euro (EUR or €) is the single currency for many countries within the European Union. ... Medb, the legendary Queen of Connacht, whose infidelity and violence were also legendary, was chosen for the Irish pound banknote for Series B introduced in 1976 and withdrawn in 1993. ... Current Polish coins and banknotes issued by the National Bank of Poland, see also Złoty. ... Lira is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries, as well as the former currency of Italy, San Marino and the Vatican City. ... Various Federal Reserve Notes Federal Reserve note is the official name for the kind of banknote used in the United States, more commonly known as dollar bills. ...

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Reproducing bank note images - Bank Notes - Bank of Canada (1247 words)
The Bank recognizes that currency is an important symbol to Canadians and that people may wish to reproduce images of notes (or parts of notes) for special purposes — usually education, advertising, or numismatics.
It is not necessary to request the Bank's permission to use bank note images for film or video purposes, provided that the images are intended to show a general indication of currency, and that there is no danger that the images could be misused.
Although the Bank is the copyright owner of the images used on Canadian bank notes, it recognizes that currency is an important symbol of value in Canada.
Banknote - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1526 words)
Note that financial convertibility cannot be maintained unless the bank has sufficient assets to back the currency it has issued.
The original notes were restricted in area and duration, but the Yuan Dynasty, facing massive shortages of specie to fund their occupation of China, began printing paper money without restrictions on duration.
In Europe the first banknotes were issued by Stockholms Banco, a predecessor of the Bank of Sweden, in 1660, although the bank ran out of coins to redeem its notes in 1664 and ceased operating in that year.
  More results at FactBites »


 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your comments
Please enter the 5-letter protection code

Want to know more?
Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms.