36 
metallic coins have all proved able to meet the requirements of 
trade without much inconvenience. For a great commercial or 
industrial State, such a curreticy is not quite sufficient. For deal- 
ing with wealth in large sums, portability and stability of value 
become much more importaiU. The medium of exchange need not 
be the actual standard of value, but only some token representing 
it. The use of such a token permits of a medium of exchange of 
great portability being in use, together with a standard of value of 
great stability. We see such a system in operation in the United 
States. The standard of value is a (theoretical) gold dollar, 
standard gold coins being made of the values of 10, 5 and 2^ dol- 
lars. The principle currency is however of paper: a most port- 
able material. The one serious drawback to this system is the 
ease with which the material used for currency can be destroyed, 
particularly by fire. 
Under modern conditions heavy and bulky material is not de- 
sirable for use as currency, although in pastoral States slow 
and cumbersome oxen appear to have been sufficiently portable 
for the needs of the community. Such a medium of exchange 
would ol)viously be useless for the thousands of small transactions 
of modern life. Even metal, when it becomes chea]) is apt to be 
too bulky for convenient use. A curious instance of this occurred 
in Sweden. ITom lfi44 to ITTfi there was a currency of thick 
square jilates (i)latar) of i)ure copper of various sizes, the largest 
weighing as much as IT kilogrammes {‘jTJ- lb. avoirdupois). The 
value in silver dalers. with the year of its issue, was stamped in 
the corners and in the middle of each plate. The reason for using 
these cumbersome blocks was a desire to benefit the Swedish 
Gopper mines, fi’or a long lime these jdates formed the chief 
medium of exchange in Sweden, and as they were very unwieldly, 
merchants had to i)rovide themselves with wheelbarrows when 
making payments of any consideral)le sum. The value in sterling 
of the large plate w'as about £l fis. 5d., so that a payment of three 
])ounds involved the transfer of a hundredweight of copper 
plates. In onr own currency the penny, which is only a token 
representing the 240th of a ])ound, is inconveniently large. 
The attribute of divisibility is very important for modern 
retail trade. Oil, corn, cowries. wampun])eag. tobacco, etc. were 
all superior in this respect to cattle. Many things, such as skins, 
which have for a long time been the i)rinciple medium of exchange 
among the red Indians, can be divided, but unfortunately two small 
pieces are not of the same value as one large piece of the size ot 
the two put together. Moreover the more such material is cut. the 
less valuable it becomes. With metals, however, owing to the ease 
with which they can be melted together after division, this draw- 
back does not exist to any extent, and in the case of the precious 
metals hardly at all. In the case of the material chosen for cur- 
rency divisibility is essential, while divisibility without loss of 
