The Standard of Value. 



ing quantities of these metals to be given as the equivalent of other 

 values. It was, evidently, determined that such quantity should be 

 settled by weight. In the early ages of the world, probably, all money 

 of gold and silver passed in exchange by weight. 



We are told that Abraham, at the death of his wife Sarah, nego- 

 tiated with the children of Heth for a burial place, and bought of 

 Ephron the Hittite, the field which was in Macpelah, which was be- 

 fore Mamre, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that 

 were in the field; "and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which 

 he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred 

 shekels * of silver, current money with the merchant." 1860 B. 0. 

 (Gen. xxiii, 16, etc.) 



When the sons of Jacob were forced to visit Egypt a second time to 

 buy food, because the famine was " sore in the land " of Canaan, and 

 they were brought into Joseph's house, they communed with the 

 steward and said, " we came indeed down at the first to buy food. 

 And it came to pass when we came to the inn, that we opened our 

 sacks and behold every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our 

 money in full weight." 1707 B. C. (Gen. xliii, 20, 21.) Speaking of 

 wisdom, Job says : " It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall 

 silver be weighed for the price thereof." 1520 B. C. (Job xxviii, 15.) 



A recent traveller in Persia (Mr. Geo. Douglas Miller) tells us 

 that in that country silver and gold coins are quite commonly weighed 

 when received in business transactions, at the present day. The same 

 practice is common in China. 



The prophet Jeremiah says : "And I bought the field of Hanameel 

 my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, 

 even seventeen shekels of silver." 590 B. C. (Jer. xxxii, 9.) The 

 prophet Zecheriah says : " And I said unto them, If ye think good, 

 give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price 

 thirty pieces of silver." 487 B. C. (Zech. xi, 12.) 



So it appears that for one thousand four hundred years of early 

 Jewish history, it was the common practice to weigh the precious 

 metals in their use as money. Profane history furnishes us evidence 

 that in the other nations of antiquity, these metals also passed by 

 weight. 



In the processes of evolution of the money metals as a standard of 

 T alue, it is apparent that somewhere between about one thousand and 



