Q.Who said, "Money is what money does"?
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Legal Tender: What Money Must Be Accepted
Start with everyday intuition. Imagine you walk into a shop and want to buy a notebook worth ₹50. You pull out a ₹50 note. The shopkeeper cannot refuse it. Now imagine you pull out a ₹50 chocolate bar instead. The shopkeeper can absolutely refuse. Why the difference? The ₹50 note is legal tender — the law says it must be accepted for payment of debts and purchases. The chocolate bar is not.
The Precise Meaning
Legal tender is money that, by law, must be accepted if offered in payment of a debt. In India, the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and the Coinage Act, 2011 define what counts.
There are two types:
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Unlimited legal tender — can be used for any amount. All RBI-issued banknotes (₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, ₹500, ₹2000) and all coins are unlimited legal tender. You can pay a ₹1,00,000 bill entirely in ₹10 notes, and the recipient must accept.
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Limited legal tender — can be used only up to a certain amount. In India, coins are limited legal tender: 50 paise coins can be used only up to ₹10, and all other coins (₹1, ₹2, ₹5, ₹10, ₹20) can be used only up to ₹1000. If you try to pay a ₹5000 bill with 5000 one-rupee coins, the shopkeeper can legally refuse.
The ₹2000 note was withdrawn from circulation in May 2023 but remains legal tender — it can still be used for payments or deposited in banks. It is not demonetised.
Why Legal Tender Matters
Without legal tender laws, every transaction would be a barter negotiation. "Will you accept my wheat for your shoes?" Legal tender solves this by giving one medium universal acceptability within the country.
But legal tender is not the same as money. Money includes demand deposits (cheques, bank transfers, UPI), which are not legal tender. A shopkeeper can refuse a cheque or a UPI payment. They cannot refuse a ₹500 note.
A common exam mistake: students think "legal tender" means "all forms of money." It does not. Only currency notes and coins issued by the RBI and government are legal tender. Cheques, debit cards, and digital wallets are not.
The NCERT Connection
Your Class 12 NCERT Macroeconomics textbook (Chapter 3, Money) states:
"Legal tender is the money that is legally accepted for the settlement of transactions."
It also distinguishes between: …
The functional definition 'Money is what money does' — defining money by its functions — was given by Hartley Withers. …
'Money is what money does' was said by Hartley Withers.
This is a functional definition of money — anything that performs the functions of money (medium of exchange, measure of value, store of value) is money. The statement is attributed to Hartley Withers. It …
Showing the 12 most recent of 18 on this concept.
- CBSE 2025Set MARCH1 markQ.Fill in the blank by choosing correct answer from the bracket (Financial, Government, RBI, Perfect competition, Product, Private): __________ is the only institution which can issue currency in India.
›Reveal solutionSolution
The blank is filled by 'RBI'.
In India the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank and the sole authority for issuing currency notes (except the one-rupee note and coins, which are issued by the Government but circulated through the RBI). The currenc …
- CBSE 2025Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Which one of the following is included in the primary function of money? (A) Medium of exchange (B) Measure of value (C) Both (A) and (B) (D) Store of value
›Reveal solutionSolution
Medium of exchange and measure of value are money's primary functions, so the answer is (C).
The functions of money are classified as primary and secondary. The primary functions are (i) medium of exchange — money is accepted in all transactions, removing the need for double coincidence of wants, and (ii) measure (unit) of value — money provides a common yardstick to express prices. Store of value (D) and standard of deferred payment are secondary functions. Therefore bot …
- CBSE 2025Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The functions of money include (A) value determination (B) store of value (C) means of exchange (D) all of these
›Reveal solutionSolution
All the listed roles are functions of money, so the answer is (D) all of these.
Money carries out a set of functions. As a measure of value it determines and expresses the prices of goods (A). As a store of value it lets people hold purchasing power over time (B). As a medium/means of exchange it is accepted in buying and selling, overcoming the barter problem (C). Since value determination, store of value …
- CBSE 2025Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Which one of the following is false? At the time of Independence (1947), one Indian rupee was equal to:(a) 4 Four Annas(b) 2 Eight Annas(c) 64 Paise(d) 100 Paise
›Reveal solutionSolution
At Independence (1947) one rupee equalled 16 annas (= 64 old paise), not 100 paise; the 100-paise system came only in 1957. So the false statement is (d) 100 Paise.
At the time of Independence in 1947, India followed the pre-decimal currency system, in which one rupee was equal to 16 annas, and one anna to 4 pies/paise. Thus: 1 rupee = 16 annas = 4 × (four annas) = 2 × (eight annas) = 64 (old) paise. The decimal system, under which one rupee = 100 (new) paise, was introduced only in 1957. Therefore the state …
- CBSE 2024Set MARCH1 markQ.Fill in the blank by choosing the correct answer from the brackets (Perfect competition, Export, Choice, Government, RBI, 1st April to 31st March): ———— is the only institution which can issue currency in India.
›Reveal solutionSolution
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the only institution that can issue currency in India.
Currency in circulation must be legal tender, and to keep the money supply controlled the power to issue notes is given to a single authority — the central bank. In India this is the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It has the sole right to issue currency notes (except one-rupee notes and coins, which are issued by the Government but circulated through the R …
- CBSE 2024Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Write True or False: Money is what money does.(a) True(b) False
›Reveal solutionSolution
True — money is defined by its functions.
The statement 'money is what money does' (Prof. Walker) means that anything which performs the functions of money — serving as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, a store of value and a standard of deferred payments — is money, regardless of its physical form. Money is thus defined functionally …
- CBSE 2024Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Write True or False: Commodity value of a ten rupee coin in India is more than its money value.(a) True(b) False
›Reveal solutionSolution
False — the commodity value of a ₹10 coin is less than its money value.
Coins in India are token money issued by the government. Their face (money) value is fixed by law and is far greater than the value of the metal contained in them (their commodity value). This is deliberate — if the metal were worth more than the face value, people would melt the coins. Therefore the c …
- CBSE 2024Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Money by order/authority of the Government is called _____ money.(a) fiat(b) fiduciary
›Reveal solutionSolution
Fiat money is money created and backed by government order/law, not by trust or convertibility into a commodity.
Fiat money is money that derives its status as money purely from government order/law (fiat = 'let it be done') — currency notes and coins issued by the central bank/government are fiat money, and by law every citizen must accept them as payment (legal tender). This is distinct from fiduciary money, which is money accepted because people have faith/trust in the issuer (e.g., cheques …
- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Which of the followings agency is response for using Rs. 1 currency note in India.(a) Reserve Bank of India(b) Ministry of Commerce(c) Ministry of Finance(d) Niti Ayog
›Reveal solutionSolution
The ₹1 currency note is issued by the Ministry of Finance — option (c).
In India, all currency notes except the one-rupee note are issued by the Reserve Bank of India. The one-rupee note (and all coins) is issued by the Government of India through the Ministry of Finance, and it bears the signature of the Finance Secretary …
- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Define money.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Money is any generally accepted medium of exchange — it solves the problem of barter by letting buying and selling happen without a double coincidence of wants.
Before money, trade happened through barter — directly swapping one good for another — which required a "double coincidence of wants" (each party had to want exactly what the other was offering). Money removes this problem because it is accepted by everyone as payment, so a seller can take money for goods and later use that same money to buy whatever they actually want, from someone else entirely. Money performs several functions: it is a medium of exchange (used to buy and sell), a unit of account (prices of all goods are expressed in it, making values comparable), a store of value (it can be held and used to buy things later, unlike a perishable good), and a standard of deferred payment (loans and future contracts are state …
- CBSE 2022Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.(iv) The institution issuing currency in India is (A) Bank of India (B) State Bank of India (C) Union Bank of India (D) Reserve Bank of India
›Reveal solutionSolution
Currency in India is issued by the Reserve Bank of India — option (D).
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country's central bank, holds the monopoly of note issue and is the sole issuing authority of currency notes in India. The notes it issues are legal tender, accepted in settlement of all debts. (The State Bank of India, …
- CBSE 2022Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.In following, who issues currency in India-(a) Reserve Bank of India(b) World Bank(c) Head Post Office(d) None of these(a) Reserve Bank of India(b) World Bank(c) Head Post Office(d) None of these
›Reveal solutionSolution
The Reserve Bank of India is the sole currency-issuing authority in India.
As India's central bank, the RBI holds the exclusive legal right to print and issue currency notes (except the one-rupee note/coin, issued by the Government of India). The World Bank is an international development lending institution and has no role in issuing any country's domestic currency. The Head Pos …
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