Fractional Currency (Noun)
Meaning
Paper currency in denominations less than the basic monetary unit.
Classification
Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession.
Examples
- The use of cents and mils as fractional currency in the United States supplemented the circulating coins of lower denominations.
- Fractional currency was first issued in the United States during the American Civil War to address the hoarding of coins.
- Some countries, such as Egypt, use a system of fractional currency where smaller denominations are represented by tickets that have the same value as coins.
- In India, fractional currency is used for postage stamps, bus fares, and other transactions where small change is required.
- Mexico still uses fractional currency in everyday transactions to solve the problem of low-denomination coin shortages.