Par

(pahr.) [L., equal.] (Com.) A term applied to any two things equal in value. In money matters, it indicates the equality of one kind of money or property with another. Thus, when $500 stock is worth exactly $500 specie, the stock is said to be at par; that is, the purchaser is required to give neither more nor le of the commodity with which he parts than the nominal equivalent of that which he acquires. Thus, too, the par of exchange is the value of money in one place equal to a given sum in another. In the exchange of money with foreign countries, the person to whom a bill is payable is supposed to receive exactly the same amount as was paid to the drawer by the remit ter; but this is not always the case with respect to the intrinsic value of the coins of different countries, which is owing to the fluctuation in the rates of exchange among the several countries and great trading cities. In fine, bills of exchange, stocks, ., are at par when they sell for their nominal value; above par, when they sell for more; and below par, when they sell for le . [s. 682]