\Seign"ior*age\, n. [F. seigneuriage, OF.
seignorage.]
1. Something claimed or taken by virtue of sovereign
   prerogative; specifically, a charge or toll deducted from
   bullion brought to a mint to be coined; the difference
   between the cost of a mass of bullion and the value as
   money of the pieces coined from it.

         If government, however, throws the expense of
         coinage, as is reasonable, upon the holders, by
         making a charge to cover the expense (which is done
         by giving back rather less in coin than has been
         received in bullion, and is called ``levying a
         seigniorage''), the coin will rise to the extent of
         the seigniorage above the value of the bullion. --J.
                                               S. Mill.

2. A share of the receipts of a business taken in payment for
   the use of a right, as a copyright or a patent.