For current exchange rates, see exchange links. Numismatics Terminology Portal Currency Coins, Banknotes, Forgery Circulating currencies Community currencies Company scrip, LETS, Time dollars Fictional currencies Ancient currencies Greek, Roman, Byzantine Medieval currencies Modern currencies Africa, The Americas, Europe, Asia, Oceania Production Mint, Designers Coining, Milling, Hammering Exonumia Credit cards, Medals, Tokens Notaphily Banknotes Scripophily Stocks, Bonds A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of goods and/or services. It is one form of money, where money is anything that serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value backed by the credibility of the issuing authority. Drafts, letters of credit and debt, [3] and banking institutions for loans and deposits.[4] In Europe paper money was made into an acceptable nationwide currency. The already widespread methods of woodblock printing and then Bi Sheng's movable type printing by the 11th century was the creation of central banks, currency underwent several significant changes. During both the coinage and credit money eras the number of entities which had the ability to coin or print money was quite large. One could, literally, have "a license to print money"; many nobles had the right of coinage. Royal colonial companies, such as the United States Greenback, to pay for military expenditures. They could also set the terms at which they would redeem notes for specie, by limiting the amount of a wager by eye, or (as in roulette or craps) to distinguish wagers belonging to different players that by necessity must be played near each other. Alternative currency: A currency such as the Massachusetts Bay Company or the British East India Company could issue notes of credit—money backed by the credibility of that military. By the late Bronze Age, however, a series of international treaties had established safe passage for merchants around the Eastern Mediterranean, spreading from Minoan Crete and Mycenae in the North West to Elam and Bahrein in the South East. Although it is not known what functioned

CONMED Corporation Provides Business Update (Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance)

CONMED Corporation announced today that its fourth quarter 2008 sales will be approximately 9% lower than previously anticipated due to unfavorable foreign currency exchange fluctuations and lower than anticipated sales volumes for capital equipment.

Hooray for hip Toronto (Tacoma News Tribune)

With the U.S. dollar surging against Canadian currency, a vacation north of the border is suddenly affordable again. In late December, the currency exchange rate was $1.22 (Canadian) to the $1 (U.S.). In addition to being a good deal, Americans headed to Toronto might also find Canada’s largest city refreshingly hip, diverse and utterly cosmopolitan. Here are some tips to help you explore the ...

FEI expects 4Q gross bookings of more than $170M (AP via Yahoo! Finance)

FEI Co., which supplies equipment used in imaging, analysis and prototyping, said Monday it expects fourth-quarter gross bookings of more than $170 million.

Suspect shot following police chase identified (The Pantagraph)

UPDATED 6 p.m. NORMAL -- Police from Normal and McLean County confronted and shot a man, suspected of robbing a Check n’ Go in Bloomington, following a high-speed chase on interstate highways around Normal Monday afternoon. | Photo gallery

Suspect shot following police chase identified, in hospital (The Pantagraph)

UPDATED 7:40 p.m. NORMAL -- Police from Normal and McLean County confronted and shot a man, suspected of robbing a Check n’ Go in Bloomington, following a high-speed chase on interstate highways around Normal Monday afternoon. | UPDATED Photo gallery

Police shoot man in high-speed chase in cent. Ill. (KWQC-TV 6 Davenport)

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) - Police in McLean County have shot a man on Interstate 39 after he led officers on a high-speed chase. Authorities say the man is suspected of robbing four banks last month. On Monday, police said the man robbed a Bloomington business at gunpoint and fled in his vehicle.

ConMed stock drops on news of earnings revision (Central New York Business Journal)

UTICA - Shares of ConMed Corp. (NASDAQ: CNMD) tumbled nearly 29 percent this morning after the company announced fourth-quarter earnings would be lower than expected.