{{Short description|Money of insignificant intrinsic value}} {{about|the monetary concept|physical coins that are not legal tender|token coin}} {{multiple issues| {{Globalize|date=September 2010}} {{essay-like|date=February 2019}} }} [[File:Oflag VII token money.jpg|thumb|Token money used in Oflag VII-A Murnau in German Murnau am Staffelsee]]
'''Token money''', or '''token''', is a form of money that has a lesser intrinsic value compared to its face value.<ref>{{cite book |author= Rutherford, Donald |author-link= Donald Rutherford (economist) |chapter= token money|title= Routledge Dictionary of Economics |edition= 2nd |place= London and New York |publisher= Routledge |year= 2002 |url= https://archive.org/details/routledgediction0002ruth/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater |url-access= registration |page= [https://archive.org/details/routledgediction0002ruth/page/564/mode/2up?view=theater 564] |via= Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Pettinger|first=Tejvan|title=Token Money|url=https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossary/token-money/|access-date=2021-04-09|website=Economics Help|language=en-GB|archive-date=2021-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417205713/https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossary/token-money/|url-status=live}}</ref> Token money is anything that is accepted as money, not due to its intrinsic value but instead because of custom or legal enactment.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203208878_routledge_dictionary_of_economics|pages=1–502|place=Abingdon, UK|publisher=Taylor & Francis|doi=10.4324/9780203208878_routledge_dictionary_of_economics|isbn=9780203208878|access-date=2021-04-09|year=1992|archive-date=2023-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020054154/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203208878/routledge-dictionary-economics-donald-rutherford|url-status=live |chapter=Routledge Dictionary of Economics}}</ref> Token money costs less to produce than its face value.<ref name=":0"/> A banknote, e.g. a five-pound note, is token money because despite its value being five pounds it only costs significantly less to produce.<ref name=":0"/> A gold coin is not considered token money.<ref name=":0"/> Token money is similar to fiat money which also has little intrinsic value, however they differ in that token money is a limited legal tender.<ref>{{Cite web|title=token|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/token|access-date=2021-03-30|website=dictionary.cambridge.org|language=en|archive-date=2021-03-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319000047/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/token|url-status=live}}</ref>
Token money has been adopted in many businesses around the world as an effective way to exchange value between companies and customers.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|last1=Sreekanth|first1=N. P.|title=Token Money: A Study on Purchase and Spending Propensities in E-Commerce and Mobile Games|date=2020-10-30|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7062-9_50|work=Information and Communication Technology for Intelligent Systems|pages=507–514|place=Singapore|publisher=Springer Singapore|isbn=978-981-15-7061-2|access-date=2021-04-09|last2=Gupta|first2=Deepak|series=Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies |volume=196 |doi=10.1007/978-981-15-7062-9_50|s2cid=228898344|archive-date=2023-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020054155/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-7062-9_50|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Token money as a system is predominantly used in mobile games, but is also used in the realm of e-commerce.<ref name=":1"/> The adoption of token money has improved transaction efficiency, as the practicalty of transacting with sums of gold poses a larger security risk. In a commodity economy, money is a measure of the value of goods and services (prices) within a sovereign country or the same economy, as well as a particular commodity to pay off debts.<ref name=token>Orchard. (2017). Token. Atlanta Review, 23(2), 76–.</ref> The token is also used as a medium of exchange, as a store of value, and as a unit of account. Digital currencies using decentralized blockchain technology are also a form of token money.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Bird|last2=Wirtz|first2=Bird LLP-Johannes|last3=Jünemann|first3=Michael|title=ICO: Legal Classification of Tokens {{pipe}} Lexology|url=https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=c448ec18-db53-4f12-8c0b-3779cef97fab|access-date=2021-03-30|website=www.lexology.com|date=23 May 2019|language=en|archive-date=2022-04-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406154805/https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=c448ec18-db53-4f12-8c0b-3779cef97fab|url-status=live}}</ref>
==History== In Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, copper coins were used for small transactions and were issued a monetary value greater than the value of the metal itself.<ref name=":0" /> This established the principle of token money, which is the nature of coinage in contemporary society.<ref name=":0" /> Plato distinguished between tokens and commodities.<ref name="moor">{{cite book |title=Money and its Origins |last=Karimzadi |first=Shahzavar |year=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136239021 |page=139 }}</ref>
In the early nineteenth century, David Ricardo suggested issuing token money as long as it did not affect commodity standard.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sargent |first1=Thomas J |title=Commodity and Token Monies |journal=The Economic Journal |date=1 April 2019 |volume=129 |issue=619 |pages=1457–1476 |doi=10.1111/ecoj.12587 |url=http://www.tomsargent.com/research/commodity_money.pdf |access-date=2018-09-13 |archive-date=2018-09-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913150255/http://www.tomsargent.com/research/commodity_money.pdf |url-status=live }} Second page of web version.</ref>
===Physical tokens=== {{see also|token coin|voucher}} thumb|Former tokens are collected and displayed. Token money has less intrinsic value compared to its face value.{{r|dict}} If the token money is metallic it is commonly made out of cheaper metals such as copper and nickel.<ref name="pmb"/><ref name=tw/>
Token money is also money whose face value exceeds its cost of production, i.e. the intrinsic value is lower than the extrinsic value. This means that the actual worth of a note or coin is much less than what it is used for. The cost of production of token money is less than its actual value, for example with convertible currency, collector notes, souvenirs, coupons, some retired US banknotes and per 1986 banknotes printed in regulation size and only on one side with authorization are actually worth more dollars than when issued.<ref>{{Cite web|title=to say that coins are ''token money'' means that|url=http://onnuri.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/japanese-barberry-eum/8717d4-to-say-that-coins-are-token-money%27%27-means-that|access-date=2021-03-30|website=onnuri.org|archive-date=2021-07-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725182611/http://onnuri.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/japanese-barberry-eum/8717d4-to-say-that-coins-are-token-money%27%27-means-that|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stannard |first=Clive |date=25 March 2022 |title=Small change in Campania from the Fourth to the First Century BC, and the Newly Discovered Second Punic War Roman Mint of Minturnae |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350343947 |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=www.researchgate.net |language=English |quote="...the small units and of copper-based alloys, in which it was possible to make coins of usable size at a relatively low cost..."}}</ref>
With token money, exchanges are not considered fully complete because the exchange of value is not equivalent.<ref name="teom">{{cite book |title=The Ecology of Money: Debt, Growth, and Sustainability |last=Kuzminski |first=Adrian |year=2013 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=9780739177181 |page=54 |url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=VVWSAAAAQBAJ |access-date=2 January 2017 |archive-date=2 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102172153/https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=VVWSAAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Value is hoped to be rendered at some future time. Examples of this include bills of exchange or negotiable instrument and certificates.<ref name="teom"/>
Token money does not have free coinage.<ref name="pmb"/>
==See also== {{Portal|Money|Numismatics}} * Bearer instrument * Bullion * Store of value
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=dict>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/token+money|title=Definition of TOKEN MONEY|website=www.merriam-webster.com|access-date=2021-10-27|archive-date=2014-01-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119105713/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/token+money|url-status=live}}</ref> <ref name=token>Orchard. (2017). Token. Atlanta Review, 23(2), 76–.</ref> <ref name=tw>{{cite journal |last1=Tsoukalas |last2=Falk |first2=B. H. |year=2020 |title=Token-Weighted Crowdsourcing |journal=Management Science |volume=66 |number=9 |pages=3843–3859 |doi=10.1287/mnsc.2019.3515|doi-access=free }}</ref> <ref name="pmb">{{cite book |title=Principles of Money and Banking |last=Mehta |first=B. K. |year=2000 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=8120829166 |pages=33–34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=97w2mtm0LeQC |access-date=2 January 2017 |archive-date=6 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406154804/https://books.google.com/books?id=97w2mtm0LeQC |url-status=live }}</ref> }}
{{Means of Exchange}}
Category:Money