ABSTRACT
Gold and silver, like all other commodities, are valuable only in proportion to the quantity of labour necessary to produce them, and bring them to market. The quantity of money that can be employed in a country must depend on its value: if gold alone were employed for the circulation of commodities, a quantity would be required, one fifteenth only of what would be necessary if silver were made use of for the same purpose. A currency is in its most perfect state when it consists wholly of paper money, but of paper money of an equal value with the gold which it professes to represent. Money is generally enhanced in value to the full amount of the seignorage, and, therefore, it is a tax which in no way effects those who pay it, while the quantity of money is not in excess.
