'Seigniorage' definitions:
Definition of 'seigniorage'
From: WordNet
noun
Charged by a government for coining bullion
Definition of 'Seigniorage'
From: GCIDE
- 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]
Definition of 'seigniorage'
From: GCIDE
- Brassage \Bras"sage\, n. [F.] A sum formerly levied to pay the expense of coinage; -- now called seigniorage. [1913 Webster]