seal A United States Note, also known as a Legal Tender Note, is a type of paper money that was issued from 1862 to 1971 in the U.S. Having been current for over 100 years, they were issued for longer than any other form of U.S. paper money. They were known popularly as greenbacks in their heyday, a name inherited from the Demand Notes that they replaced in 1862. Often called Legal Tender Notes, they were called United States Notes by the First Legal Tender Act, which authorized them as a form of fiat currency. During the 1860s the so-called second obligation on the reverse of the notes stated:[1] This Note is Legal Tender for All Debts Public and Private Except Duties On Imports And Interest On The Public Debt; And Is Redeemable In Payment Of All Loans Made To The United States. They were originally issued directly into circulation by the U.S. Treasury to pay expenses incurred by the Union during the American Civil War. Over the next century, the legislation governing these notes was modified many times and numerous versions were issued by the Treasury. United States Notes that were issued in the large-size format, before 1929, differ dramatically in appearance when compared to modern American currency, but those issued in the small-size format, starting in 1929, are very similar to contemporary Federal Reserve Notes with the highly visible distinction of having red U.S. Treasury Seals and serial numbers in place of green ones. Existing United States Notes remain valid currency in the United States; however, as no United States Notes have been issued since January 1971, they are increasingly rare in circulation. Demand Notes[edit] Comparison of a $5 Demand Note (upper image) and an 1862 issue $5 United States Note (lower image). Note the removal of the words On Demand and of the phrase Receivable in Payment of All Public Dues. Also note the Treasury Seal added to the United States Note. During 1861, the opening year of the American Civil War, the expenses incurred by the Union Government far outstripped its limited revenues from taxation, and borrowing was the main vehicle for financing the war. The Act of July 17, 1861[2] authorized Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase to raise money via the issuance of $50,000,000 in Treasury Notes payable on demand.[3] These Demand Notes were paid out to creditors directly and used to meet the payroll of soldiers in the field. While issued within the legal framework of Treasury Note Debt, the Demand Notes were intended to circulate as currency and were of the same size as and, in appearance, closely resembled banknotes.[4] In December 1861, economic conditions deteriorated and a suspension of specie payment led the government to cease redeeming the Demand Notes in coin.As of December 2012, the U.S. Treasury calculates that $239 million in United States notes are in circulation and, in accordance with debt ceiling legislation, excludes this amount from the statutory debt limit of the United States. The $239 million excludes $25 million in United States Notes issued prior to July 1, 1929, determined pursuant to Act of June 30, 1961, 31 U.S.C. 5119, to have been destroyed or irretrievably lost.[27] Seigniorage From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Seigniorage /ˈseɪnjərɪdʒ/, also spelled seignorage or seigneurage (from Old French seigneuriage right of the lord (seigneur) to mint money), is the difference between the value of money and the cost to produce and distribute it. The term can be applied in the following ways: Seigniorage derived from specie—metal coins—is a tax, added to the total price of a coin (metal content and production costs), that a customer of the mint had to pay to the mint, and that was sent to the sovereign of the political area.[1] Seigniorage derived from notes is more indirect, being the difference between interest earned on securities acquired in exchange for bank notes and the costs of producing and distributing those notes.[2] The term also applies to monetary seignorage, where sovereign-issued securities are exchanged for newly minted bank notes by a central bank, thus allowing the sovereign to borrow without needing to repay.[3] However, monetary seignorage refers to the sovereign revenue obtained through routine debt monetization, including expanding the money supply during GDP growth and meeting yearly inflation targets.[3] Seigniorage is a convenient source of revenue for some governments.This article is about the Demand Notes issued by the U.S. government. For demand note referring to any promissory note that is payable on demand, see promissory note. Top row: The distinctive green ink used on the backs of Demand Notes gave rise to the term greenbacks Bottom row: Prominent design elements used on the front of $5 and $20 Demand Notes (located respectively under their denomination); pictured in the middle is the front of a $10 Demand Note with prominent design elements listed A Demand Note is a type of United States paper money that was issued between August 1861 and April 1862 during the American Civil War in denominations of 5, 10, and 20 US$. Demand Notes were the first type of paper money issued by the United States in the sense that they were the first in the series of emissions which has continuously achieved wide circulation down to the present day. The U.S. government placed the Demand Notes into circulation by using them to pay expenses incurred during the civil war including the salaries of its workers and military personnel. Because of the distinctive green ink on their reverse, and because state-chartered bank and Confederate notes of the day typically had blank reverse, the Demand Notes were nicknamed greenbacks, a name later inherited by Legal Tender and Federal Reserve Notes. The obverse of the Demand Notes contained familiar elements such as the images of a bald eagle, Abraham Lincoln, and Alexander Hamilton, though the portraits used on Demand Notes are different from the ones seen on U.S. currency today. When Demand Notes were discontinued, their successors, the Legal Tender Notes, could not be used to pay import duties, a large part of the U.S. federal tax base at the time, and thus Demand Notes took precedence. As a result, most Demand Notes were redeemed, though the few remaining Demand Notes are the oldest valid currency in the United States today Social Security number From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search A Social Security card issued by the Railroad Retirement Board in 1943 to a now deceased person. In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as 42 U.S.C. § 405(c)(2). The number is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration, an independent agency of the United States government. Although its primary purpose is to track individuals for Social Security purposes,[1] the Social Security number has become a de facto national identification number for taxation and other purposes.[2] A Social Security number may be obtained by applying on Form SS-5, Application for A Social Security Number Card.[3] Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Purpose and use 2.1 Non-universal status 2.2 Use required for federal tax purposes 3 Types of Social Security cards 4 Identity theft 5 Structure 5.1 Exhaustion and re-use 5.2 Valid SSNs 6 SSNs invalidated by use in advertising 7 See also 8 References 9 External links History[edit] Social Security numbers were first issued by the Social Security Administration in November 1935 as part of the New Deal Social Security program. Within three months, 25 million numbers were issued.[4] On November 24, 1936, 1,074 of the nations 45,000 post offices were designated typing centers to type up Social Security cards that were then sent to Washington, D.C. On December 1, 1936, as part of the publicity campaign for the new program, Joseph L. Fay of the Social Security Administration selected a record from the top of the first stack of 1,000 records and announced that the first Social Security number in history was assigned to John David Sweeney, Jr., of New Rochelle, New York.[5] Before 1986, people often did not obtain a Social Security number until the age of about 14, since the numbers were used for income tracking purposes, and those under that age seldom had substantial income.[citation needed] The Tax Reform Act of 1986 required parents to list Social Security numbers for each dependent over the age of 5 for whom the parent wanted to claim a tax deduction. Before this act, parents claiming tax deductions were on the honor system not to lie about the number of children they supported. During the first year, this anti-fraud change resulted in seven million fewer minor dependents being claimed. The disappearance of these dependents is believed to have involved either children who never existed or tax deductions improperly claimed by non-custodial parents.[6] The 5th requirement for citizenship/residency/nationality, which is proved by providing the dependents SSN, was added during the 1986 tax reform.[7] By 1990, the threshold was lowered to 1 year old,[8] and is now required regardless of the childs age. Since then, parents have often applied for Social Security numbers for their children soon after birth; today, it can be done on the application for a birth certificate.[9] Purpose and use[edit] The original purpose of this number was to track individuals accounts within the Social Security program. It has since come to be used as an identifier for individuals within the United States, although rare errors occur where duplicates do exist. As numbers are now assigned by the central issuing office of the SSA, it is unlikely that duplication will ever occur again. A few duplications did occur when prenumbered cards were sent out to regional SSA offices and (originally) Post Offices. Employee, patient, student, and credit records are sometimes indexed by Social Security number. The U.S. Armed Forces has used the Social Security number as an identification number for the Army and Air Force since July 1, 1969, the Navy and Marine Corps since January 1, 1972, and the Coast Guard since October 1, 1974. [10] Previously, the United States military used a much more complicated system of service numbers. Non-universal status[edit] An old Social Security card with the not for identification message Social Security was originally a universal tax, but when Medicare was passed in 1965, objecting religious groups in existence prior to 1951 were allowed to opt out of the system.[11] Because of this, not every American is part of the Social Security program, and not everyone has a number. However, a social security number is required for parents to claim their children as dependents for federal income tax purposes,[9] and the Internal Revenue Service requires all corporations to obtain SSNs (or alternative identifying numbers) from their employees, as described below. The Old Order Amish have fought to prevent universal Social Security by overturning rules such as a requirement to provide a Social Security number for a hunting license.[12] Social Security cards printed from January 1946 until January 1972 expressly stated that people should not use the number and card for identification.[13] Since nearly everyone in the United States now has a SSN, it became convenient to use it anyway and the message was removed.[14] The SSN card is still not suitable for primary identification as it has no photograph, no physical description and no birth date. All it does is confirm that a particular number has been issued to a particular name. Identity theft[edit] Many citizens and privacy advocates are concerned about the disclosure and processing of Social Security numbers. Furthermore, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have demonstrated an algorithm that uses publicly available personal information to reconstruct a given SSN.[21] The SSN is frequently used by those involved in identity theft, since it is interconnected with so many other forms of identification, and because people asking for it treat it as an authenticator. Financial institutions generally require a SSN to set up bank accounts, credit cards, and loans—partly because they assume that no one except the person it was issued to knows it. Exacerbating the problem of using the social security number as an identifier is the fact that the social security card contains no biometric identifiers of any sort, making it essentially impossible to tell whether a person using a certain SSN truly belongs to someone without relying on other documentation (which may itself have been falsely procured through use of the fraudulent SSN). Congress has proposed federal laws that restricts the use of SSNs for identification and bans their use for a number of commercial purposes—e.g., rental applications.[22] International Standard Book Number From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For reader help on ISBNs, see Help:ISBN. International Standard Book Number {{{image_alt}}} A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an EAN-13 bar code Acronym ISBN Introduced 1970 Managing organisation International ISBN Agency Number of digits 13 (formerly 10) Check digit Weighted sum Example 978-3-16-148410-0 Website isbn-international.org The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a unique[1][2] numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin,[3] for the booksellers and stationers WHSmith and others in 1965.[4] The ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 by David Whitaker and Emery Koltay (who grew to be Director of the U.S. ISBN agency).[5][6] [7][8] The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO 2108.[4] However, the 9-digit SBN code was used in the United Kingdom until 1974. An SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. ISO has appointed the International ISBN Agency as the registration authority for ISBN worldwide and the ISBN Standard is developed under the control of ISO Technical Committee 46/Subcommittee 9 TC 46/SC 9. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978.[9] Since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s.[10] Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure; however, this can be rectified later.[11] Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), identifies periodical publications such as magazines. Contents [hide] 1 Overview 1.1 How ISBNs are issued 1.2 Registration group identifier 1.3 Registrant element 1.3.1 Pattern 2 Check digits 2.1 ISBN-10 check digits 2.2 ISBN-10 check digit calculation 2.3 ISBN-13 check digit calculation 2.4 ISBN-10 to ISBN-13 conversion 2.5 Errors in usage 2.6 eISBN 3 EAN format used in barcodes, and upgrading 4 See also 5 Notes and references 6 External links Overview[edit] An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation (except reprintings) of a book. For example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN.[12] The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, and 10 digits long if assigned before 2007. An International Standard Book Number consists of 4 parts (if it is a 10 digit ISBN) or 5 parts (for a 13 digit ISBN): The parts of a 10-digit ISBN and the corresponding EAN‑13 and barcode. Note the different check digits in each. The part of the EAN‑13 labeled EAN is the Bookland country code.1.for a 13-digit ISBN, a prefix element - a GS1 prefix: so far 978 or 979 have been made available by GS1,[13] 2.the registration group element, (language-sharing country group, individual country or territory)[14] 3.the registrant element, 4.the publication element,[15] and 5.a checksum character or check digit.[15] The 13 digit ISBN separates its parts (prefix element, registration group, registrant, publication and check digit) with either a hyphen or a space. Other than the prefix and the check digit, no part of the ISBN has a fixed number of digits. The 10 digit ISBN also separated its parts (registration group, registrant, publication and check digit) with either a hyphen or a space.[16] How ISBNs are issued[edit] International Standard Book Numbers issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for that country or territory. The ranges of ISBNs assigned to any particular country are based on the publishing profile of the country concerned, and so the ranges will vary depending on the number of books and the number, type, and size of publishers that are active. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in National Libraries or within Ministries of Culture and thus may receive direct funding from government to support their services. In other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers who are not government funded. In Canada, the stated purpose of issuing International Standard Book Numbers for no cost was to encourage Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some other countries, where the service is provided by non-government funded organisations, the issuing of International Standard Book Numbers requires payment of a fee.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 05:12:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015