Perry is closest to Webster's Third New International Dictionary: ----- seigniorage or seignorage also seigneurage [ME seigneurage, fr. MF, right of the lord, esp. to coin money, fr. seigneur + age] 1: a government revenue derived from the manufacture of coins that is calculated in the U.S. as the difference between the monetary and the bullion value of the silver contained in silver coins disregarding any alloy metal, all the metals contained in minor coins (as teh nickel and the cent), or the silver bullion that is held as backing for silver certificates -- compare brassage. 2 archaic: Dominion, Power. ----- brassage 1: a charge made to an individual under a system of free coinage for the minting of any gold or silver he may bring to the mint and usu. calculated to cover various costs -- compare seigniorage. ----- Still, Jim Gleick seems to be citing a special extension of this general definition, wherein government capitalizes on its money-coining power to reap any ancillary benefit, such as the float on money transactions. Is it not likely that there are other seigniorages of running the public till, as Kawika Gaguio suggests, or even such as pleasurably performed a la droit du seigneur cited by Simon? Another definition of seigniorage is that of any means to generate benefits for the lord. Along that line, I wonder if governments might not apply brassage to E-money.