Demonetization

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By the state government act of demonetization (from Latin de- prefix "contains, off" and Latin monetae , "Coins,") lose banknotes and coins their status as legal tender .

General

Demonetization is part of monetary policy and is the countermeasure to banknotes and coins. Demonetization is a time-consuming and costly legal act that rarely occurs. It is inevitable when a new currency is introduced. The currency reform on June 20, 1948 in West Germany abolished the Reichsmark (demonetized) and replaced it with the Deutsche Mark as the sole legal tender. The Reichsmark became immediately invalid . The introduction of the euro , on the other hand, was different because Art. 5 and Art. 9 Regulation (EC) No. 974/98 on the introduction of the euro of 9 May 1998 provided that during a transitional period (between January 1999 and December 2001) the national currencies of the EU member states continued to be used as legal tender. On January 1, 2002, the euro replaced the national currencies, which were only demonetized at that time.

species

The demonetization can affect a whole currency with all denominations (all banknotes and coins), some types of money or just individual denominations .

In Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbank is responsible for demonetizing banknotes on the basis of Art. 10 Clause 1 of the Euro Implementation Regulation 974/1998 and Art. 88 Clause 1 of the Basic Law . According to Section 14 (2) BBankG , it can call for banknotes to be withdrawn ; after the exchange period has expired, the banknotes concerned become invalid and are therefore denominated. Individual types of money can also be demonetized. The suspension of coins is carried out by the federal government in accordance with Section 9 (1) MünzG , the redemption period must be at least six months.

Also damaged money sign subject to a demonetization. As a criterion of demarcation between mere damage, whereby the monetary function is preserved, and destruction leading to invalidity, a substance preservation degree of 50% has emerged. According to Section 14 (3) BBankG, the Bundesbank has to replace damaged banknotes if the holder presents parts that are greater than half the total or provides evidence that the remainder of the note, of which he has half or a smaller part submitted, is destroyed. A coin is considered denominated if it is perforated, falsified or changed in any way other than normal circulation ( Section 3 (3) MünzG).

Precious metals

A “dehydration” of gold or silver as a currency metal is also called demonetization: the previous currency metal may no longer be used as such. So if gold or silver coins are replaced as official means of payment by Kurant coins, the precious metal is demonetized by the transition from gold or silver coins to Kurant coins. This happened, for example, in the United States in February 1873 , when the government stopped minting silver dollars in order to eliminate deflation . In contrast, the departure from the gold standard for banknotes is not a demonetization of gold, because only the money cover is changed. The sales of gold from the currency reserves of the central banks do not constitute demonetization either.

Demarcation

Disrepute is the putting out of price coins in circulation, monetization is the allocation of a monetary value to an asset , activity or situation .

See also

literature

  • A contribution to the question of the gold standard in the German Empire and to the demonetization of silver . Puttkammer & Mühlbrecht, Berlin 1880.
  • Erwin Ruchti: Demonetization of Gold? In: Politische Rundschau , vol. 18 (1939), pp. 163–166.
  • Richard Kerschagl : On the question of demonetizing gold . In: Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie (Vienna), vol. 14 (1954), pp. 419–435.
  • Hans Schmid : The demonetization of gold . In: Emil Küng, Franz Aschinger, Hans Schmid: Future problems of the international currency order . University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen 1972 (conference proceedings).
  • Samuel Scheps: Demonetization of gold. International monetary order and oil crisis . Management Assistant publishing house, Zurich 1974.
  • Sebastian Omlor: Private Money Law. Dematerialization, Europeanization, devaluation . Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-16-152981-8 , pp. 122–125 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ulrich Häde, Geldzeichen im Recht der Bundes Republik Deutschland , 1991, p. 91
  2. ↑ Sebastian Omlor, private money law: dematerialization, Europeanization, devaluation , 2014, p. 122
  3. ↑ Sebastian Omlor, private money law: dematerialization, Europeanization, devaluation , 2014, p. 123
  4. ↑ Sebastian Omlor, private money law: dematerialization, Europeanization, devaluation , 2014, p. 123
  5. ↑ Julius von Staudinger (Ed.), Commentary on the Civil Code , 1978, p. 57
  6. ↑ Sebastian Omlor, private money law: dematerialization, Europeanization, devaluation , 2014, p. 123 f.
  7. ↑ Sebastian Omlor, private money law: dematerialization, Europeanization, devaluation , 2014, p. 125
  8. ↑ BVerwGE 94, 294 , 296 ff.
  9. ↑ Willi Paul Adams, The USA before 1900 , 2009, p. 100