Category:Seigniorage

Seign"ior*age, n. Etym: [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. 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.

2. A share of the receipts of a business taken in payment for the use Of a right, as a copyright or a patent.