The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-11-13
Il II f MADISO nj A N
BRIEF HISTORY OF MONEY.
Continued.

COINED MONEY NOT SIGN, OR A MEASURE OF
VALUE.
But whatever may be the advantages Of at
tending the use Of coined money, and they are
great and obvious il is necessary to observe, that
its introduction does not affect the nature of ex-
changes. Equivalents are still given for equiva.
Tents. The exchange of quarter of corn for
an ounce of pure unfashioned gold bullion, is I'M
deniably as much real barter, as if it had been
exchanged for an OK, or barrel Of beer
But supposng the metal to have been formed
into coin, that is marked with a stamp indicat-
ing It's weight and fincness, it is plain that cir
cumstances could have made no change in the
terms of the barter The coinage saves the
trouble of weighing and assaying the bullion,
but il does nothing more A coin is merely a
piece Of metal Of a knopn weigM and fine
ness and the commodities exchanged for il are
always held 10 be of equal value. And vet these
obvious considerations have been very generally
| overlooked,
Coined money, instead ofbeng viewed in the
same light as other commodities, has been look
ed upon as a something quite mysterious II
was said TO be both sign and measure OF
value In truth, however, it is neither the one
nor the other. sovereign is not sign, it is
the thing signifed. A promissory note, paya-
BILE at some stated period, may improperly be
considered as the sign of the specie TO be paid
| for it hut that specie is itself commodity pos
scssed of real exchangeable worth.
| 1t is equally incorrect to call money mea-
sure Of value Gold and silver do not measure
the value of commodities, more than the latter
measure the value of gold and silver Every
thing possessed of value may either measure, OF
be measured by, every thing else possessed Of
value.
When one commodity is exchanged for an
other, each measures the value of the other. II
the quartern loaf were sold for a shilling, il
would be quite as correct 10 say, that quartern
loaf measured the value Of shilling, as that a
shilling measured the value of quartern loaf.
THE USE OF GOLD AND SILVER AS A STANDARD FOR
ESTIMATING THE RELATIVE VALUE OF coMMoDI-
TIES.
The quality of serving as measure of value
is, therefore, equally inherent in every commo.
dty. But the slow degrees BY which the pre-
cious metals change their value, renders them
peculiarly well fitted for forming standard, by
which to compare the value Of other and more
variable commodities To this standard refer
ence is almost always made IN estimating the
value of the products Of every civilized country
We do not say, that one man is worth thou
sand acres of land, and that another is worth a
thousand sheep; but we ascertain for how much
gold or silver the land and the sheep would ex-
change, and then say that their propretors are
worth so much money. In this, however, there
is nothing mysterious. We merely compare
the value of one commodity with the value Of
another; and as coin or money has been found
TO be the most Convenient standard Of compare
son, the value Of all other commodities is usually
estimated in it.
THERE is NO ABSTRACT OR IDEAL STANDARD OF
VALUE.
A standard is not intended to mark the known
relations between different commodities, but t.
enable us easily to discover those which are I'M
known. II is quite plain that nothing can b,
used as standard which is not possessed Of thu
same properties as the things with which il is t.
be compared. To measure length, STANDARD
must have length; to measure value, il mus
have value. The value of commodities is ascer
tanned by separating their cost with the cost o