1) The
currency of the country and its type (gold, silver, paper);
2) Foreign
banknotes used in international transactions (foreign currency);
3) Supra-counting
units and the means of payment (SDR, the ECU, the transferable ruble).
Up until
the First World War in the capitalist countries dominated by a system of metallic
currency. We used two versions of this system monometallism when the basis of
the monetary system, lay a metal, and bimetallism, when the two metals (gold
and silver) served as the universal equivalent.
Under the
conditions of modern capitalism supplanted the gold from the monetary system,
which is based on a paper currency, which has a credit nature. Depending on the
mode of use, divided into convertible currency (convertible) - which are freely
exchanged for any other foreign currency, such as the U.S. dollar, deutsche
mark, French franc and the currencies of most industrialized capitalist
countries, ie: partially - Convertible currency convertible not all foreign
exchange transactions, or for all owners, and non-convertible (closed) -
operating only within one country.
In recent
years, international payments, are used in addition to national and collective
Rates: Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) as part of the IMF, the European Currency
Unit (ECU) in the framework of the European monetary system, etc.
The main
role in the capitalist monetary system is the U.S. dollar. In dollar made the
bulk of international payments, fixed world market prices for many goods,
accounting for an overwhelming share of foreign currency reserves. Along with
the dollar a significant role in the 50's and 60's. Pound played. Recently, the
growing importance of international payments DM, Japanese yen, French franc.