seigniorage

3 definitions found

seigniorage - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Seigniorage \Seign"ior*age\, n. [F. seigneuriage, OF.
     seignorage.]
     1. Something claimed or taken by virtue of sovereign
        prerogative; specifically, a charge or toll deducted from
        bullion brought to a mint to be coined; the difference
        between the cost of a mass of bullion and the value as
        money of the pieces coined from it.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              If government, however, throws the expense of
              coinage, as is reasonable, upon the holders, 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. --J.
                                                    S. Mill.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A share of the receipts of a business taken in payment for
        the use of a right, as a copyright or a patent.
        [1913 Webster]

  Brassage \Bras"sage\, n. [F.]
     A sum formerly levied to pay the expense of coinage; -- now
     called seigniorage.
     [1913 Webster]

seigniorage - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  seigniorage
      n 1: charged by a government for coining bullion