seigniorage

See also: Seigniorage

English

Alternative forms

• seignorage, seigneurage

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French seignorage.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseɪ.njə.ɹɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

seigniorage (plural seigniorages)

1. (historical) All the revenue obtained by a feudal lord from his vassals.
   • 1895, John Bloundelle-Burton, In the Day of Adversity‎^[1]:

     I will tell you. First, he comes regularly to take his rights of seigniorage, his rents, his taxes, his fourths of all the produce of his vineyards and arable lands on our Côte d'Or.

2. (money) The revenue obtained directly by minting coin (difference between face value and cost of metal).
   • 1848, John Stuart Mill, chapter VI, in Principles of Political Economy: With Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy. […], volume II, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], →OCLC, book III (Exchange), page 25:

     If Government, however, throws the expense of coinage, as is reasonable, upon the holder, by making a charge to cover the expense (which is done by giving back rather less in coin than has been received in bullion, and is called levying a seigniorage), the coin will rise, to the extent of the seigniorage, above the value of the bullion.

   • 1896, William Arthur Shaw, History of Currency, 1252 to 1896‎^[2]:

     The old kingly prerogative of altering the coinage was taken away, the unit of the currency was declared definite and unchangeable, and the seigniorage on minting was abolished.

   • 2019 November 4, Sarah Martin, “Rise of cashless society sees coin sales plummet for Royal Australian Mint”, in The Guardian‎^[3]:

     As a result of the lower than expected production, the mint has halved the amount it provides to government coffers through seigniorage, which is the difference between the face value of a coin sold to the banks and its cost of production.

3. (finance) The revenue obtained by the difference between interest earned on securities acquired in exchange for bank notes and the costs of producing and distributing those notes.

Translations

revenue from vassals

• Italian: signoraggio (it) m

money earned from minting

• German: Seigniorage (de) f, Münzgewinn m, Münzprägegewinn m
• Italian: signoraggio (it) m

money earned from difference on interest

• Polish: senioraż (pl) m