What Is Seigniorage, and Does It Cause Inflation?

What Is Seigniorage?

Seigniorage is the difference between the face value of money, such as a $10 bill or a quarter coin, and the cost to produce it. If the seigniorage is positive, the government will make a profit; a negative seigniorage will result in a loss.

Understanding Seigniorage

Seigniorage is counted as revenue for a government when the money it creates is worth more than it costs to produce. This revenue is often used by governments to finance portions of their expenditures without having to collect taxes. If, for example, it costs the U.S. government five cents to produce $1, the seigniorage is 95 cents or the difference between the two amounts. Seigniorage gives a country the potential to turn a profit when it produces money.

While the definition of seigniorage is most often the difference between the cost of printing new currency and the face value of that same currency, it is also the number of goods or services a government can acquire through the printing of new notes.

In some situations, the production of currency can result in a loss instead of a gain for the government creating the currency. This loss is more commonly experienced in the production of coins because the metal used to produce coins has inherent value. This value, often called the melt value, may be higher than the denomination it originally represented or, when combined with production costs, may result in a loss. For example, the U.S. penny, with a face value of one cent, cost 3.07 cents to produce in 2023—the eighteenth year in a row that production costs exceeded the penny's face value.

Over time, the melt value can also change as market demands shift, and it can potentially lead to the value of the metal being worth more than the face value of the currency. One example is silver coins, such as the U.S. silver quarter and the silver dime.

Real-World Example of Seigniorage

Based on anticipated demand for new currency, the Federal Reserve places an order annually with the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing and pays for production costs. The Fed provides detailed information on each currency denomination and the cost to produce it. In 2023 for example, it cost 5.3 cents to produce a $20 bill, and 8.6 cents to produce a $100 bill.

The U.S. Mint is responsible for coin production, which is influenced by the number of requested Federal Reserve Bank orders. The Federal Reserve then purchases the coins at face value.

Special Considerations

While the basic principle behind seigniorage suggests that a country can profit from the production of new bills, there can be other factors affecting the entire transaction. If the Federal Reserve agrees to increase the number of dollars available within the U.S. economy, it will purchase a Treasury bill (T-bill) in exchange for permitting the production of more dollars.

While the government may appear to profit when the cost of production is lower than the face value of the bills, it is important to note that Treasury bills require interest payments to the Federal Reserve in addition to the original investment placed when the Treasury bill was purchased.

Seigniorage and Gresham's Law

Gresham's law is a monetary principle stating that "bad money drives out good." Gresham’s law was originally based on the composition of minted coins and the value of the precious metals used in them. In other words, if a gold coin is worth $5 and a silver coin is worth $0.50, people will hoard the gold coin and instead exchange 10 silver coins. As a result, the gold coins drop out of circulation, and thus the bad money (the silver) drives out the good (the gold).

This becomes a form of effective seigniorage since the gold becomes worth more even though its face value is the same as 10 silver coins. However, since the abandonment of metallic currency standards, the theory has been applied to the relative stability of different currencies' value in global markets.

Does Seigniorage Cause Inflation?

Seigniorage itself does not necessarily create inflation, but it can contribute to inflationary pressures under certain circumstances. The relationship between seigniorage and inflation is complex, but let's take a closer look.

When a government or central bank engages in seigniorage by creating new money, it increases the money supply. If this increase in the money supply outpaces the growth of goods and services in the economy, it can lead to inflation. This is based on the quantity theory of money, which suggests that an increase in money supply, all else being equal, will lead to a proportional increase in the price level.

The inflationary impact of seigniorage largely depends on how the newly created money is used. If the government uses seigniorage to finance productive investments that increase the economy's productive capacity, it may not lead to significant inflation. On the other hand, if seigniorage is used to finance current consumption or unproductive expenditures, it's more likely to be inflationary.

Keep in mind that central banks typically aim to control inflation through various monetary policy tools. They may offset the potential inflationary effects of seigniorage through other mechanisms, such as adjusting interest rates or conducting open market operations. Therefore, while excessive seigniorage can contribute to inflation, the central banks that can very closely monitor the impact of seigniorage and adapt their policies accordingly.

Does Inflation Impact Seigniorage?

In general, moderate levels of inflation can increase seigniorage revenue for governments, but this relationship becomes more complicated at higher inflation rates.

In a low to moderate inflation environment, rising prices increase the nominal demand for money. This increased demand for money allows the government to issue more currency, thereby generating more seigniorage revenue. Additionally, inflation erodes the real value of government debt, which can be seen as an indirect form of seigniorage as it reduces the government's real debt burden.

However, as inflation rates increase beyond moderate levels, the relationship becomes more nuanced. High inflation rates can lead to currency substitution, where people begin to use foreign currencies or other stores of value instead of the domestic currency. This behavior reduces the demand for the domestic currency, meaning the government issues less currency which decreases seigniorage revenue.

The Bottom Line

Seigniorage allows governments to earn revenue when the face value of money is more than the cost to produce it. The revenue is typically used to fund expenditures without having to collect taxes. Sometimes the production of currency can result in a loss instead of a gain.