weight, and not possessing the other qualities of money in the highest
degree, have the advantage that they can be made to carry themselves
long distances, and therefore they have been much used as money in
simpler economic conditions.

3. Cognizability; that is, the money-good must be easy to know, and
to judge as to quality. If expert knowledge or special apparatus are
needed to test it in order to avoid counterfeits, few could be ready
to take it and trading would be a costly process.

4. Durability; that is, the money-good must be easy to keep without
much loss in amount or in quality, perhaps for long periods, until it
can be passed on in trade. Few kinds of food answer very well to this
last requirement, being organic and perishable. But all four qualities
above named were pretty well embodied in primitive times in rock salt,
in rare flints and bits of copper suitable for tools and weapons,
in furs in northern countries, and in many articles of personal
adornment, such as beads, feathers, jewels, and metal ornaments.

5. Divisibility; that is, the quality in the monetary material that
permits it to be divided easily into smaller amounts and then to be
united again into larger masses at little cost and without loss in
amount or in quality. This quality is present only when the material
is quite homogeneous throughout the whole mass, a condition fulfilled
more completely by the metals than by any other goods. This quality
makes it possible to put the governmental stamp upon the money
material, and to produce pieces, some of which are exact duplicates
and some exact multiples, of others. In this manner pieces of money
are provided suitable for transactions of different magnitudes, down
to small fractional amounts. A monetary system of this kind aids