Currencies and Exchange Rates

A currency in the simplest definition is currency in circulation, particularly circulating coins and banknotes when in active use or circulating as a medium of trade. Money has been in circulation for virtually every civilization since the start of recorded history. The most common forms of currency are currency in general, money in the US dollars of course, and of course the more conventional gold and silver coins. Currencies can be issued by governments, banks, private citizens, central banks, or even vending machines.

Currencies are usually issued from governments through commercial organizations like banks or other mutual groups of enterprises that are generally recognized as legal entities by the governments issuing from them. They are generally accepted as legal tender by all of the countries that issue them. The most widely used international units of currency are the US dollar and the Eurodollar. Major currencies are usually notated in the same way as their names would normally imply but rather in what language they are usually issued (for instance, British English and German English have different ways of spelling the words but are otherwise identical in meaning). There are other minor varieties of currency that are used world-wide and are generally accepted throughout the globe.

Some of the largest business day trading companies on the market today use the Forex exchange to conduct their business day to day. Many of these companies conduct their business through the use of their computer systems, which track changes in exchange rates and buy and sell at exactly the right time to maximize profits for their clients. Other business day traders make much of their income from buying and selling particular currencies on the Forex exchange and then holding those currencies until the time is right to unload them for a profit. Foreign exchange traders also use the Forex market to purchase and sell major currencies on the Forex market to try to find areas of the world where interest rates are low or flat and then buy those currencies when the interest rates go up in order to make a profit when the value of the currency goes up.