2 
Capitel I. 
Und endlich behauptet man, dass das Geld eine 
Waare sei, die sich von anderen Waaren nur dadurch 
interest and raising the value of money 1691 II ed. London 1696. 
p. 31: ^.Mankind, having consented to put an imaginary value 
upon gold and silver, hy reason of their durableness, scarcely, and 
not being very liable to be counterfeited, have made them, by general 
consent, the common pledges, tvhereby men are assured, in exchange 
for them, to receive equally valuable things, to those they parted 
with, for any quantity of these metals/* 
D. Hume, Ess. & Treat, vol. II. London 1754 p. 54: „Of 
money“: ,,Money is nothing but the represen tation of labour 
and commodities and serves only as a method of rating or estima 
ting them.'* „Of interest“ : ,,Money having merely a fictitious 
value, arising from the agreement and convention of men**. 
Vgl. auch Montesquieu, de l’esprit des lois L. XXII Ch.II: 
,,La monnaie est un signe qui represente la valeur de toutes 
les marchandises.** 
In neuerer Zeit sind einige Schriftsteller in diese Auffassung 
zurückgefallen. So insbesondere Macleod, Diet, of pol. economy. 
London 1863. vol. V. Art. Currency: „IVhatever material the 
currency may consist of, it represents transferable debt and 
nothing else. The true character of money being a pledge. As 
he takes is not for any direct use it can be to him, but only 
because he believes he can get what he wants when he pleases , it 
is general credit, or a bill of exchange on the commercial com 
munity.** 
AehnlichS. Oppenheim, „dieNatur des Geldes“ (Mainz 1855). 
Alle diese Schriftsteller übersehen, dass, wenn auch das Geld 
bei jedem Einzelnen zunächst nur deshalb Annahme findet, 
weil man sich vermittelst desselben Alles andere zu verschaffen im 
Stande ist, der Werth des Geldes in letzter Instanz doch