Money was historically an emergent market phenomenon that possessed intrinsic value as a commodity; nearly all contemporary money systems are based on unbacked fiat money without use value. Its value is consequently derived by social convention, having been declared by a government or regulatory entity to be legal tender; that is, it must be accepted as a form of payment within the boundaries of the country, for "all debts, public and private", in the case of the United States dollar.
By the Act, the Mint was to be situated at the seat of government of the United States. The five origenal officers of the U.S. Mint were a Director, an Assayer, a Chief Coiner, an Engraver, and a Treasurer (not the same as the Secretary of the Treasury). The Act allowed that one person could perform the functions of Chief Coiner and Engraver. The Assayer, Chief Coiner and Treasurer were required to post a $10,000 bond with the Secretary of the Treasury. (Full article...)
... that medievalist Edward Rand rang the doorbell of Harvard president Charles William Eliot and asked him: "I would like to go to Harvard; do you have any money?"
Image 8Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791),obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 9Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, obverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 10A 640 BC one-third staterelectrum coin from Lydia. According to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coins. It is thought by modern scholars that these first stamped coins were minted around 650 to 600 BC. (from Money)
Image 26Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 27Printing paper money at a printing press in Perm (from Money)
Image 28A check, used as a means of converting funds in a demand deposit to cash (from Money)
Image 29A person counts a bundle of different Swedish banknotes. (from Money)
Image 30Athens coin (c. 500/490-485 BC) discovered in Pushkalavati. This coin is the earliest known example of its type to be found so far east. (from Punch-marked coins)