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Renovatio Monetae: Gesell Taxes in Practice

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  • Svensson, Roger

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

  • Westermark, Andreas

    (Sveriges Riksbank)

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, prices increase over time during an issue period and falls immediately after the re-coinage date. Agents remint coins and the system generates tax revenues if the tax is su¢ ciently low, if the time period between re-coinages is su¢ ciently long, and if the probability of being penalized for using illegal coins is su¢ ciently high.

Suggested Citation

  • Svensson, Roger & Westermark, Andreas, 2015. "Renovatio Monetae: Gesell Taxes in Practice," Working Paper Series 1083, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1083
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Martin Menner, 2011. ""Gesell Tax" and Efficiency of Monetary Exchange," Working Papers. Serie AD 2011-26, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
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    Cited by:

    1. Roger Svensson & Andreas Westermark, 2020. "Renovatio Monetae: When Gesell Taxes Worked," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 61(2), pages 821-846, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Seigniorage; Gesell tax; Periodic re-coinage: Cash-in-advance model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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