agio

American  

[aj-ee-oh] / ˈædʒ iˌoʊ /

noun

• agios
  plural

1. a premium on money in exchange.

2. an allowance for the difference in value of two currencies.

3. an allowance given or taken on bills of exchange from other countries, as to balance exchange expenses.

4. agiotage.

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agio British  

/ ˈædʒɪəʊ /

noun

1. 1. the difference between the nominal and actual values of a currency

   2. the charge payable for conversion of the less valuable currency

2. a percentage payable for the exchange of one currency into another

3. an allowance granted to compensate for differences in currency values, as on foreign bills of exchange

4. an informal word for agiotage

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• agios
  plural

Etymology

Origin of agio

1675–85; < Italian a ( g ) gio exchange, premium, ultimately < Medieval Greek allágion, derivative of Greek allágē literally, change, barter; compare Venetian azo, Medieval Latin lazius

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

agio agios

It is not the legal peculiarity of money, as legal tender, which is necessarily responsible for this agio when it appears.

From The Value of Money by Benjamin M. Anderson

Amsterdam, agio of the bank of, explained, 194.

From An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Germain Garnier

It is in the case of coins of very small denomination that the agio might appear most readily.

From The Value of Money by Benjamin M. Anderson

But suppose that there is an agio from other causes, will not the legal tender aspect of money tend to increase it?

From The Value of Money by Benjamin M. Anderson

In either case, there will be temporary emergencies, when panics arise, when legal tender money gets an agio over any possible substitute.

From The Value of Money by Benjamin M. Anderson

It was wonderful to hear him talk about millions, and agios, and discounts, and what Rothschild was doing, and Baring Brothers.

From Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray