THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MONEY DAVIDSON. 203 



degree. These are Utility, Portability, Indestructibility, Homo- 

 geneity, Divisibility, Stability of Value, (Cognizability. These 

 qualities are possessed in an especial degree by gold and silver, 

 and in a less degree by copper. Iron was used, and is still used 

 in many regions ; but it is not the best money material because 

 of its cheapness. It does not contain great value in small bulk, 

 and it is not indestructible. Lead was used in classical times, 

 and is still current in Burmah, but it is too soft to be made into 

 good coins which will retain their stamp and be always cogniz- 

 able. Tin was early adopted as a money material. It was 

 coined by Dionysius, of Syracuse, who was the first to use it of 

 whom we can speak with certainty ; and it has remained in use 

 as a money material ever since. In 1680, Charles II. issued tin 

 farthings, and his example was followed by William and Mary 

 in 1690; and it was employed in Java, Mexico, and elsewhere. 

 But it has the defect of being too soft. Copper, either pure or 

 in alloy, has been extensively employed, and it possesses almost 

 all the qualities requisite, except that it does not contain great 

 value in small bulk, and has comparatively little stability of 

 value. Platinum is in many respects suited for currency pur- 

 purposes, but it is in but slight demand, and the stock on 

 hand is very small. Consequently any change in the demand 

 is apt to cause great fluctuations in value. Russia, which owns 

 platinum mines in the Ural Mountains, began to coin it in 1828, 

 but abandoned the experiment in 1845, because of the cost of 

 striking coins. Nickel has been largely used in alloy, but it is 

 subject to the disadvantage of fluctuations in value owing to the 

 limited number of mines. Silver and gold are pre-eminently 

 the metals suitable for coinage. They possess all the qualities 

 necessary in a currency material. These qualities, of course, 

 they do not possess in a perfect degree ; but they possess them 

 in a higher degree than any other substances. They have great 

 utility. They contain great value in small bulk and are readily 

 portable. Except by the slow process of wear and tear they are 

 practically indestructible. They are almost perfectly homo- 

 genous after they have been reduced to uniform degrees of 



