central bank

中央銀行／ central-bank　—　Institutions

The bank that answers last for the quantity of money and for banks' payments.

Netherlands Indies gulden (silver) — A photograph of the real thing this term names.

Ten-cent note of a state-chartered bank — A photograph of the real thing this term names.

It began as a private bank created to lend money to the government. In return for the loan, it received the privilege of issuing banknotes, and in time, only its notes became legal tender, leading to its current form.

⚠ A central bank is not "public from the start." It is born out of fiscal necessity.