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Wisselbank
The Bank of Amsterdam ( nl, Amsterdamsche Wisselbank, lit=Exchange Bank of Amsterdam) was an early bank, vouched for by the city of Amsterdam, and established in 1609. It was the first public bank to offer accounts not directly convertible to coin. As such, it has been described as the first true central bank, even though that view is not uniformly shared and a similar claim has been made for the Taula de canvi of Barcelona, established two centuries earlier. Unlike the Bank of England, established almost a century later, it neither managed the national currency nor acted as a lending institution (except to the government in emergencies); it was intended to defend coinage standard. The role of the Wisselbank was to correctly estimate the value of coins and thus make debasement less profitable. It occupied a central position in the financial world of its day, providing an effective, efficient and trusted system for national and international payments, and introduced the first-e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Reserve Currency
A reserve currency (or anchor currency) is a foreign currency that is held in significant quantities by central banks or other monetary authorities as part of their foreign exchange reserves. The reserve currency can be used in international transactions, international investments and all aspects of the global economy. It is often considered a hard currency or safe-haven currency. The United Kingdom's pound sterling was the primary reserve currency of much of the world in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. However, by the middle of the 20th century, the United States dollar had become the world's dominant reserve currency. The world's need for dollars has allowed the United States government to borrow at lower costs, giving the United States an advantage in excess of US$100 billion per year. History Reserve currencies have come and gone with the evolution of the world’s geopolitical order. International currencies in the past have (excluding those discusse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Bank
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the monetary base. Most central banks also have supervisory and regulatory powers to ensure the stability of member institutions, to prevent bank runs, and to discourage reckless or fraudulent behavior by member banks. Central banks in most developed nations are institutionally independent from political interference. Still, limited control by the executive and legislative bodies exists. Activities of central banks Functions of a central bank usually include: * Monetary policy: by setting the official interest rate and controlling the money supply; *Financial stability: acting as a government's banker and as the bankers' bank ("lender of last resort"); * Reserve management: managing a country's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch Guilder
The guilder ( nl, gulden, ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from the 15th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. The Dutch name ''gulden'' was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning "golden", and reflects the fact that, when first introduced in 1434, its value was about equal to (i.e., it was on par with) the Italian gold florin. The Dutch guilder was a ''de facto'' reserve currency in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Between 1999 and 2002, the guilder was officially a "national subunit" of the euro. However, physical payments could only be made in guilders, as no euro coins or banknotes were available. The exact exchange rate, still relevant for old contracts and for exchange of the old currency for euros at the central bank, is 2.20371 Dutch guilders for 1 euro. Inverted, this gives 0.453780 euros for 1 guilder. Derived from the Dutch guilder are the Netherlands Antillean guilder (still in use in Curaçao and Sint Maarten) and the Surinamese gui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portrait Of A Man, Probably Hans Van Hogendorp By Thomas De Keyser Mauritshuis 689
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer. History Prehistorical portraiture Plastered human skulls were reconstructed human skulls that were made in the ancient Levant between 9000 and 6000 BC in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. They represent some of the oldest forms of art in the Middle East and demonstrate that the prehistoric population took great care in burying their ancestors below their homes. The skulls denote some of the earliest sculptural examples of portraiture in the history of art. Historical portraitur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exchange Rate
In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of the euro. The exchange rate is also regarded as the value of one country's currency in relation to another currency. For example, an interbank exchange rate of 114 Japanese yen to the United States dollar means that ¥114 will be exchanged for or that will be exchanged for ¥114. In this case it is said that the price of a dollar in relation to yen is ¥114, or equivalently that the price of a yen in relation to dollars is $1/114. Each country determines the exchange rate regime that will apply to its currency. For example, a currency may be floating, pegged (fixed), or a hybrid. Governments can impose certain limits and controls on exchange rates. Countries can also have a strong or weak currency. There is no agreement in the econ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trade Currency
Trade coins are coins minted by a government, but not necessarily legal tender within the territory of the issuing country. These quasi bullion coins (in rarer cases small change) were thus actually export goods - that is, bullion in the form of coins, used to bulk buy important goods from other countries, where they could be bought at a favourable price, compared to the purchasing power of the same amount of bullion within the trade coins' country of origin. A distinction must be drawn between full value bullion trade coins, that were used in ordinary peacetime trade on the one hand, and on the other hand debased coins, that were usually made with the intention to deceive. Such debased "trade coins" were occasionally minted during times of war, e.g. the Prussian ephraimiten, silver-clad copper coins minted during the Seven Years' War. If these were ever accepted or approved as legal tender, they would be valued far below the regular coins, their value being calculated according to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Book-entry
Book entry is a system of tracking ownership of securities where no certificate is given to investors. Several terms are often used interchangeably with "book entry" shares including "paperless shares", "electronic shares", "digital shares", "digital stock certificates", and "uncertificated shares". Some of these terms have somewhat different connotations but, at least in the United States, state securities laws only recognize certificated and uncertificated shares. In the case of book-entry-only (BEO) issues, while investors do not receive certificates, a custodian holds one or more global certificates. Dematerialized securities, in contrast, are ones in which no certificates exist; instead, the security issuer, its agent or a central securities depository keeps records, usually electronically of who holds outstanding securities. Most investors who use an online broker or even a regular full-service broker will have their shares held in book-entry form. This is generally conven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schepenen
A schepen (Dutch; . ') or échevin (French) or Schöffe (German) is a municipal officer in Belgium and formerly the Netherlands. It has been replaced by the ' in the Netherlands (a municipal executive). In modern Belgium, the ''schepen'' or ''échevin'' is part of the municipal government. Depending on the context, it may be roughly translated as an alderman, councillor, or magistrate. Name The Dutch word ''schepen'' comes from the Old Saxon word ''scepino'' 'judge' and is related to German ''Schöffe'' 'lay magistrate'. In early Medieval Latin used in France, it was ''scabinus''. Originally, the word referred to member of a council of "deciders" – literally, "judgment finders" (''oordeelvinders'') – that sat at a mandatory public assembly called a ''ding'' ("thing" in English). Their judgments originally required ratification by a majority of the people present. Later, mandatory attendance (''dingplicht'') and ratification were no longer required. Belgium In Flanders, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vroedschap
The vroedschap () was the name for the (all male) city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a ''vroedman'', literally a "wise man". An honorific title of the ''vroedschap'' was the ''vroede vaderen'', the "wise fathers" Most early modern Dutch cities were ruled by a government of male burghers or ''poorters'' (bourgeois) who were members of the regent class, the ruling elite. During late Medieval times, the regents had in all cities gradually managed to exclude men of the artisan class from membership, making themselves a sort of hereditary city nobility. In the Dutch Republic, a city administration consisted of the magistrate and the ''vroedschap''. The magistrate (or city government) consisted of a number, often four, of burgomasters assisted by a number of aldermen (''schepenen''), and looked after the daily administration of the city. In most cities, the mayors were chosen for a period of four years. The previous (and usually t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Nederlandsche Bank
De Nederlandsche Bank NV (DNB) is the central bank of the Netherlands. Founded by King William I in 1814, it is part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). De Nederlandsche Bank is a public limited company (Dutch: '' naamloze vennootschap'', abbreviated NV) whose everyday policy is overseen by the Governing Board. Being a public limited company, DNB has a Supervisory Board (Dutch: ''Raad van Commissarissen''). In addition, there is an advisory body called the Bank Council (Dutch: ''Bankraad''). As a public entity the DNB has a function as both part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and an independent public body (Dutch: zelfstandig bestuursorgaan). As a part of the ESCB, DNB is co-responsible for the determination and implementation of the monetary policy for the eurozone, besides being a link in the international payment system. As an independent public body, DNB exercises prudential supervision of financial institutions. History On 2 May 1998, the Europ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan Wagenaar
Jan Wagenaar (25 October 1709 – 1 March 1773) was a Dutch historian, best known for his contributions to ''Tegenwoordige staat van nederland'' and ''Vaderlandsche Historie''. Biography Wagenaar was born in Amsterdam to a Mennonite master shoemaker of the same name and Maria Saftleven, a descendant of the landscape painter Herman Saftleven. He was schooled in reading and mathematics and finished his education at a French school in Amsterdam. He was known for his poems and made his first play at age twelve, which was published without his consent. In 1722 another poem was published in ''Haarlem'' that he wrote for the village sacristan of Zandvoort. He was apprenticed to a Catholic merchant and later became a wood trader, but having trained himself in historical subjects through intense reading of the classics, he became a writer. His most famous work is ''Vaderlandsche historie'' (Amsterdam, 1749-1760, 21 vols), which became so popular it was continued by others (Amsterdam 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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