agio

American  

[aj-ee-oh] / ˈædʒ iˌoʊ /

noun

plural

agios

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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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

The scarcity is so great, that the agio of the bank, which is commonly at four or five per cent, fell to one and a half.

From The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume 7. by Various

Where free coinage is suspended, the peculiar services which only money can perform—or rather, the services which money has a differential advantage in performing—may easily lead to an agio for coined over uncoined metal.

From The Value of Money by Anderson, Benjamin M.

Beating the agio would be a source of profits.

From The Value of Money by Anderson, Benjamin M.

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 Anderson, Benjamin M.

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 Anderson, Benjamin M.