ABSTRACT
The shift in the value of money is reflected in semiotic transformations that money signs underwent as American frontier-style capitalism gave way to the existing shape of contemporary, bureaucratic capitalism. In all its forms, money is a sign, in that it "can be taken as something standing for something else," 4 expressing value that is usually codified in terms of a gold standard . Gold is the ultimate iconic sign of money, resembling the glittering, precious ideal wealth it denotes,-1 making it a perfect target for Marner, who has said that his plays are "iconoclastic," "in the sense of tearing down the icons of American business, and some of the myths about this country. "6
