From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com>
Date: Sun, 7 Apr 1996 04:20:57 +0800
To: James Gleick <gleick@around.com>
Subject: No Subject
In-Reply-To: <2.2.32.19960406060312.006d58c0@pop3.interramp.com>
Message-ID: <199604061646.LAA07847@jekyll.piermont.com>
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Incidently....

James Gleick writes:
> >Seignorage is neither of these things. It is the difference between
> >the cost of producing a currency token (like a quarter or a dollar
> >bill) and the face value of the token. In essense, its the profit
> >margin on printing or minting money.
> 
> You're giving a definition straight from a dictionary--an old
> one. Welcome to the modern world.

The definition I use is *still* totally current. One concern when
doing things like switching from dollar bills to dollar coins or
altering printing processes in paper money is a change in seignorage
because of a change in production cost of the currency tokens.

Perry