232 MODERN MONETARY SYSTEMS 
its commercial rate (or its “intrinsic” value) in our opinion, 
far from being the basis of its monetary value, was more or 
less the result of the system of free coinage which ensures 
that the quantity produced, whatever it may be, will flow 
into the various monetary units at a fixed price. And so 
it has led us to define our conception of a standard. 
These concluding theoretical considerations are not in- 
dispensable for the understanding of all monetary 
phenomena. But we believe that they will contribute to 
an understanding of some of these phenomena and in 
particular those which are connected with the working of 
bimetallism during the first three quarters of the 19th 
century, and which would be inexplicable if money were 
conceived as a commodity or if its legal value were deter- 
mined by a commercial rate. 
Finally, when we come to practical application, we 
have attempted to show that the conception to which a 
scientific study of monetary phenomena leads contains the 
elements of the solution of some of the most serious 
problems of the present day.