ABSTRACT
If Metals were as easily found as water commonly is everybody would take what he wanted of them and they would have hardly any value. The Metals which are most plentiful and cost the least trouble to produce are also the cheapest. Copper, Silver, and Gold are the three metals in general use for money. But gold and silver, from whatever Mine extracted, are always of the same perfection when refined. Silver only began to be employed in exchange in the year 484. Gold and silver, like copper, have a value proportionable to the Land and Labour necessary for their production. Silver mines have always been found more abundant than those of gold, but not equally in all countries or at all times. Possibly rich people might prefer to carry gold money in their pockets rather than silver and might develope a taste for gildings and gold ornaments rather than silver, thus increasing the market price of gold.
