ABSTRACT
Money, then, like commodities in general, having a value dependent on, and proportional to, its cost of production; the theory of money is, by the admission of this principle, stript of a great part of the mystery which apparently surrounded it. But money, no more than commodities in general, has its value definitely determined by demand and supply. The ultimate regulator of its value is Cost of Production. The quantity wanted will depend partly on the cost of producing gold, and partly on the rapidity of its circulation. Since gold and silver bullion are commodities like any others, and their value depends, like that of other things, on their cost of production. The effects of all changes in the conditions of production of the precious metals are at first, and continue to be for many years, questions of quantity only, with little reference to cost of production.
