LTD

LTD, Ltd, or Ltd. may refer to:

Business and finance

Music

Science and technology

Transportation

Other uses

Trade coin

Trade coins are coins minted by a government, but not necessarily current within the territory of the issuing country. These quasi bullion coins (in rarer cases small change) were thus actually export goods - that is, bullion in the form of coins, used to bulk buy important goods from other countries, where they could be bought at a favourable price, compared to the purchasing power of the same amount of bullion within the trade coins' country of origin.

One of the most famous trade coins of the 18th century is the Austrian Maria Theresa thaler. Although dated 1780, it has been minted continuously well into the 20th century in several countries. It is still produced in Austria for sale to collectors. The Maria Theresa thaler was previously exported in large quantities to East Africa and the Middle East. It was so highly regarded in Africa that its purchasing power for goods and raw materials was higher there than in Austria.

A distinction must be drawn between full value bullion trade coins, that were used in ordinary peacetime trade on the one hand, and on the other hand debased coins, that were usually made with the intention to deceive. Such debased "trade coins" were occasionally minted during times of war, e.g. the Prussian ephraimiten, silver-clad copper coins minted during the Seven Years' War. If these were ever accepted or approved as legal tender, they would be valued far below the regular coins, their value being calculated according to a specified formula. The conversion rates were even then usually significantly below the intrinsic value of the coins, to cover costs of melting and recoinage etc.

Trade

Trade involves the transfer of the ownership of goods or services from one person or entity to another in exchange for other goods or services or for money. Possible synonyms of "trade" include "commerce" and "financial transaction". A network that allows trade is called a market.

The original form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchange of goods and services for other goods and services. Barter is trading things without the use of money. Later one side of the barter started to involve precious metals, which gained symbolic as well as practical importance. Modern traders generally negotiate through a medium of exchange, such as money. As a result, buying can be separated from selling, or earning. The invention of money (and later credit, paper money and non-physical money) greatly simplified and promoted trade. Trade between two traders is called bilateral trade, while trade between more than two traders is called multilateral trade.

Trade exists due to the specialization and division of labor, in which most people concentrate on a small aspect of production, trading for other products. Trade exists between regions because different regions may have a comparative advantage (perceived or real) in the production of some trade-able commodity, or because different regions' size may encourage mass production. As such, trade at market prices between locations can benefit both locations.

Private company limited by shares

A private company limited by shares, usually called a private limited company (Ltd.) (though this can theoretically also refer to a private company limited by guarantee), is the private limited type of company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, Scotland, that of certain Commonwealth countries and the Republic of Ireland. It has shareholders with limited liability and its shares may not be offered to the general public, unlike those of a public limited company (plc).

"Limited by shares" means that the company has shareholders, and that the liability of the shareholders to creditors of the company is limited to the capital originally invested, i.e. the nominal value of the shares and any premium paid in return for the issue of the shares by the company. A shareholder's personal assets are thereby protected in the event of the company's insolvency, but money invested in the company will be lost.

A limited company may be "private" or "public". A private limited company's disclosure requirements are lighter, but for this reason its shares may not be offered to the general public (and therefore cannot be traded on a public stock exchange). This is the major distinguishing feature between a private limited company and a public limited company. Most companies, particularly small companies, are private.

Limited company

In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. The former may be further divided into public companies and private companies. Who may become a member of a private limited company is restricted by law and by the company's rules. In contrast, anyone may buy shares in a public limited company.

Limited companies can be found in most of the countries, although the detailed rules governing them vary widely. It is also common for a distinction to be made between the publicly tradable companies of the plc type (for example, the German Aktiengesellschaft (AG), British PLC, Czech a.s., Italian S.p.A. and the Spanish, French, Polish and Romanian S.A.), and the "private" types of company (such as the German GmbH, British Ltd, Polish sp. z o.o., the Czech s.r.o., the Italian s.r.l. and Slovak s.r.o.)

Kinds

Private company limited by guarantee