Principles of Political Economy with Applications to Social Philosophy

They were among the most imperishable of all substances. They were also portable and, containing great value in a small volume, were easily hidden—a consideration of much importance in an age of insecurity. Jewels are inferior to gold and silver in terms of divisibility and possess such varying qualities that they cannot be accurately graded without great trouble. Gold and silver are remarkably divisible, and when pure, they are always of the same quality; their purity can be verified and certified by a public authority.

Accordingly, although furs have been used as money in some countries, cattle in others, cubes of pressed tea in Chinese Tartary, cowries (small shells) on the coast of Western Africa, and, to this day, blocks of rock salt in Abyssinia—and although even less costly metals have sometimes been chosen, such as iron in Lacedæmon original: "Lacedæmon" (ancient Sparta) for the sake of an austere policy, or copper in the early Roman Republic due to the poverty of the people—gold and silver have been preferred everywhere by nations capable of obtaining them through industry, commerce, or conquest. To the qualities that originally recommended them, another was added, the importance of which only became clear over time: of all commodities, they are among the least influenced by the causes that produce fluctuations in value. No commodity is entirely free from such fluctuations. Gold and silver have sustained only one great, permanent change in value since the beginning of history—the discovery of the American mines—along with some temporary variations, such as that caused during the last great war by the hoarding of metals in the military chests of the vast armies constantly in the field. In the present age, the opening of a new source of supply as abundant as the mines of the Ural Mountains and Siberia may be the start of another period of decline, though it would be useless at