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Message:: [QUOTE="GDJMSP, post: 3032482, member: 112"]This concept and the practice of people depositing silver, and gold, at mints so it could be minted into coins that Conder pointed out is something a lot of folks aren't aware of. And it wasn't just the US that did this, mints worldwide did it. It was never allowed in the US, but for centuries in Europe the way that mints even came to be was that an individual, usually a Noble, would pay the Crown a sum of money, often a large sum, for the right to mint coins. Then that Noble had to come up with all his own money to fund the mint, he had to pay for everything on his own. And his only source of precious metals were what he could either buy on his own or what individual people and or local merchants brought to his mint and deposited with him so he could mint it into coins for them. The mint owner then had to melt the metal, no matter what form it came in, refine it to the required fineness, form it into large sheets, cut out planchets, and then strike the coins. And all of it was done by hand. That's just the simplest basics, there's a whole lot more to the story. But is the where and why of how seigniorage came to be.[/QUOTE]