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CASH
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CASH . (1) (From O. Fr. casse, mod. caisse, a See also:box or See also:chest; cf. " See also:case "), a See also:term which, originally meaning a box in which See also:money is kept, is now commonly applied to ready money or See also:coin. In commercial and banking usage " cash " is sometimes confined to specie; it is also, in opposition to bills, drafts or securities, applied to See also:bank-notes. Hence " to cash " means to convert cheques and other negotiable See also:instruments into coin. In See also:book-keeping, in such expressions as " See also:petty cash," " cash-book," and the like, it has the same significance, and so also in " cash-See also:payment " or ready-money payment as opposed to " See also:credit," however the payment may be made, by coin, notes or See also:cheque. The " cash on delivery " or " collect on delivery " See also:system, known as C.O.D., is one whereby a tradesman can, through a delivery agency, send goods to a customer, and have the money due to him collected on the delivery of the same, with a See also:guarantee from the See also:carrier that, if no money be collected, the goods shall be returned. The See also:function of such an agency is performed in the See also:United States of See also:America by the See also:express companies (see EXPRESS). In most countries of the See also:continent of See also:Europe the See also:post See also:office acts as such an See also:agent, as in See also:Germany (where the system is known as Post-Nachnahme) and in See also:France (contre remboursement). It is also in use in See also:India, where it is known as " value payable," and was introduced in 1877 in See also:Australia. The advantages of the system are obvious, from the point of view both of the customer, who can, by post or telegram, See also:order and obtain speedy delivery from large towns, and of the tradesman, whose See also:area of See also:trade is indefinitely extended. The system does away with credit or the delay and inconvenience of paying in advance. The success of the large " See also:catalogue " houses in America has been mainly due to the system as operated by the express companies. At various times, notably in 1904, it has been proposed that the See also:General Post Office of the United See also:Kingdom should adopt the system. The consistent opposition of the See also:retail traders in large See also:urban centres other than the large stores, and of the See also:country shopkeeper generally, has been sufficient to secure the refusal of the postmaster-general to the proposed See also:scheme, but a commencement was made in 1908 for orders not exceeding £20 between the United Kingdom and See also:Egypt, See also:Cyprus and See also:Malta, and certain See also:British post offices in See also:Turkey and See also:Tangier. (2) (From Tamil kasfi, Sinhalese kasi, a small coin, adopted by Portuguese as caixa, a box, and similarly assimilated in See also:English to " cash " above), a name given by English residents in the See also:East to native coins of small value, and particularly to the See also:copper coinage of See also:China, the native name for which is tsien. This, the only coin minted by the See also:government, should See also:bear a fixed ratio of 1000 cash to one See also:tael of See also:silver, but in practice there is no such fixed value. It is the universal See also:medium ofexchange throughout China for all retail transactions. The tsien is a See also:round disk of copper alloy, with a square hole punched through the centre for stringing. A " See also:string of cash " amounts to 500 or 1000 cash, strung in divisions of 50 or xoo. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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