Jesse Sheidlower used "currency" a couple of times last night, and my first impression was this was used in a interesting monetary sense, rather than for Xtimes/frequency. He said something like "whether that word has currency"...
it got me thinking about occur/current/currency, etc.

any thoughts about this?

sorry if this is a yart, but too bad...

Yes, Virginia, money happens.

any thoughts?

How about, "How did the word currency come to be applied to money?"

going with the flow, i mean following the current.. we could find this an electrifying topic..

let's set sail on a discussion and see where it leads.

>How did the word.. come to be applied to money?

yes, this does seem to be the salient question..

3. Of money: The fact or quality of being current or passing from man to man as a
medium of exchange; circulation. Also fig.

1699 LOCKE 2nd Reply to Bp. of Worcester (R.), 'Tis the receiving of them by others, their very passing,
that gives them their authority and currency. 1722 Lond. Gaz. No. 6078/2 All such of the said Bills..lose their
Currency. 1729 POPE Dunc. I. 23 note, The papers of Drapier against the currency of Wood's copper coin in
Ireland. 1862 RUSKIN Munera P. (1880) 15 The laws of currency and exchange.


4. a. That which is current as a medium of exchange; the circulating medium (whether
coins or notes); the money of a country in actual use.

1729 FRANKLIN Ess. Wks. 1840 II. 270 Money..by being coined is made a currency.

None of tsuwm's references actually explain why. They just give dates of first usages and examples of usages.

I've googled around a bit, and I can't find a historical perspective of how the word came to be used in terms of money. But I can probably guess.

If you think of money as the oil which makes the economy run smoothly by providing an efficient medium of exchange, it's probably easier to grasp the use of the word. "Currency" is probably a contraction of the term "units of current value". Money remains money, but the value of your money is changing all the time, even while it sits inert in your wallet. Money is worth what the market will pay for it at the current time, either in other currencies or in exchange for goods. Therefore the "current value" of your money is different from the "face value" of your money. A dollar is always a dollar, but the real value of a dollar is measured against the value of other currencies and, by extrapolation, against the goods you use your dollar to purchase.

The term "currency" only applies to negotiable instruments, i.e. monetary instruments such as notes, gold, silver, platinum, coins, cheques, drafts, etc., which can change their overall value. It doesn't apply other mediums of exchange such as barter or direct exchange.

Hope this is clear.