Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/157970 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper Series No. 327
Publisher: 
Sveriges Riksbank, Stockholm
Abstract: 
Gesell taxes on money holdings have received attention in recent decades as a way of alleviating the zero lower bound on interest rates. Less known is that such a tax was the predominant method used to generate seigniorage in large parts of medieval Europe for around two centuries. When the Gesell tax was levied, current coins ceased to be legal tender and had to be exchanged into new coins for a fee - an institution known as renovatio monetae or periodic re-coinage. This could occur as often as twice a year. Using a cash-in-advance model, we analyze under which conditions agents prefer to re-mint their coins and the system generates tax revenues. We also analyze how prices fluctuate over an issue period.
Subjects: 
Seigniorage
Gesell tax
periodic re-coinage
cash-in-advance model
JEL: 
E31
E42
E52
N13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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