At the earliest time, salt, cattle and sheep, axes, cloth and so on all served as universal equivalents.

In the end, gold and silver are relatively fixed and act as universal equivalents.

But it has the disadvantages of heavy weight and inconvenient carrying.

Of course, today it is paper money that acts as a universal equivalent.

It will play the role of universal equivalent for a long time.

Commodity and currency seem to be twin brothers. In fact, in history, money appeared much later than commodities. Money is the product of the long-term development of commodity exchange. All currencies are commodities, but not all commodities are currencies.

At the end of primitive society, the first commodity exchange appeared. At that time, people exchanged surplus products, which was an accidental barter. For example, two sheep exchanged 1 stone axe. This exchange is expressed by the equation: two sheep = 1 stone axe. Here, the stone axe has played a special role in expressing the value of other commodities (if you don't understand the concept of value, look for it yourself)

With the development of social productive forces and social division of labor, barter is expanding, and more and more kinds of goods are involved in the exchange. At this time, a commodity is often exchanged with a variety of commodities. However, with the increase of the types of goods exchanged, the disadvantages of barter are obvious. Because both sides need each other's goods in barter exchange, the exchange can be successful, otherwise the exchange cannot be carried out. The more frequent and expanded the exchange, the more prominent the disadvantages of barter exchange.

With the further development of commodity exchange, the equivalents of various commodities, also known as universal equivalent, have gradually emerged. They are separated from commodities and can be directly exchanged with all other commodities to show the value of all other commodities.

The expansion of the scope of commodity exchange objectively requires that universal equivalents be fixed on a commodity, which is conducive to the further development of commodity exchange. Finally, universal equivalence focuses on precious metals such as gold and silver. Because gold and silver have the characteristics of small volume, great value, easy collection, long preservation time, uniform texture and easy division, they are most suitable as universal equivalents. Gold and silver are fixed as universal equivalents, that is, money! ! ! Money is separated from commodities and acts as a universal equivalent commodity. The essence of money is universal equivalence! ! !

The most primitive shells

Coins have the longest service life.

Copper itself is valuable.

Silver is valuable in itself.

Gold itself has value.

Silk itself is very valuable.

Jiaozi (Song paper money) epoch-making currency

It is better to spend money to buy silver tickets for directional circulation.

food

cotton yarn

paper money

Except for paper money and jiaozi, they are all heavy and inconvenient.

But physical money is really reliable in wartime.

The "commodity theory" of money once stripped off the mysterious coat of money, but after the emergence of modern forms of money such as non-convertible paper money, people wandered in the "maze" of money. If, like the "commodity theory" of money, the essence of money ultimately boils down to "commodity", we find that those things that are not commodities can completely perform the functions of money independently; If, like the "tool theory" of money, the essence of money is summed up as a circulation tool, it obviously does not reveal the essential attributes that determine money to become a value circulation tool. It is only a description of the function of money. According to the comprehensive analysis of various monetary phenomena, we believe that: in essence, money has never been a commodity, it just took the form of a commodity at a certain historical stage; In the process of currency development, according to the formation mechanism of currency value, it can be divided into two stages: the first stage is commodity currency; The second stage is that money exists independently of commodities. In the first stage, money basically exists in the form of commodity money; In the second stage, money exists in an independent form. The appearance of non-convertible paper money marks the development of money from the first stage to the second stage. For the convenience of description, the following paper money is used to represent non-convertible paper money and deposit currency.

First, paper money can completely realize the function of money independently, which shows that the essence of money is not a commodity.

The essence of the same thing does not change during its existence, but only its performance or existence; When the nature of one thing changes, it means that it has been transformed into another thing. This principle tells us that in the process of understanding the essence of money, if it can be proved that paper money or any form of money is not a commodity in essence, it is proved that the essence of money is not a commodity. Because the essence of money must be the same in the past, present and future.

To prove that paper money is a currency that can independently execute functions of money, not just a symbol of value, it needs to have the basic functions of two currencies: value scale and circulation means. It is generally believed that paper money has the function of circulation means. Therefore, the remaining question is only to see whether the paper itself has a value scale and whether it can independently perform the function of a value scale. We believe that the value scale of paper money exists objectively and is directly determined by its own motion law, which is unnecessary and impossible to be stipulated by the outside world; The value scale of paper money is known, and the value of goods can be independently expressed as price. Among them, the immanence of paper money price scale is the most important factor to determine the function of paper money itself.

(1) The value scale of paper money is objective.

The objectivity of paper money value scale refers to the objectivity of paper money representing commodity value. The exchange of banknotes and commodities follows the principle that the value represented by banknotes is equal to the value of commodities.

When paper money is exchanged with goods, the paper money held by the seller represents the value of the goods he sells and is widely recognized by the society. Before the paper money is recycled by the state, no matter who holds it, it objectively represents a certain commodity value and can be directly exchanged with other commodities. Even if it is lost or damaged by the holder, it will not change the objectivity of the paper money. If the paper money is lost and taken away by the picker, it means that the commodity value represented by the paper money has been transferred from the original holder to the picker for free; If the lost banknotes are not found or damaged by the holder, the value represented by these lost or damaged banknotes will be transferred to other circulating banknotes on average by reducing the number of circulating banknotes-increasing the unit currency value of circulating banknotes. It is precisely because the commodity value represented by paper money exists objectively and performs the function of value scale together with the value represented by paper money, so the value scale of paper money exists objectively and is true. Although the stability of paper money is much worse than that of gold coins, its objectivity cannot be denied.

(2) The value scale of paper money is directly determined by the inherent law of the currency circulation process.

In the process of exchanging paper money with commodities, generally speaking, the value of commodities represented by paper money must be equal to the value of commodities exchanged with paper money. Because, if it is not equivalent, the goods that are "medium" by paper money cannot be exchanged at equal value, which is determined by the law of value. This relationship is expressed by the following equation:

Commodity value exchanged with paper money = commodity value expressed with paper money.

or

Commodity value exchanged with paper money = unit currency value of paper money × number of paper money.

According to the requirements of the law of value, this equivalence relationship can only be destroyed in the exchange behavior of individuals, but it is inevitable in the exchange process of the whole society and is not allowed to be unbalanced. Therefore, there are:

The total value of commodities exchanged with banknotes in a certain period = the value of commodities represented by unit banknotes × the average number of banknotes circulating in the same period × the average circulation times of banknotes.

The commodity value represented by unit banknotes = (the total value of commodities exchanged with banknotes in a certain period) ÷ (the average number of banknotes circulating in the same period × the average circulation times of banknotes)

The above formula shows that the value of unit paper money is directly determined by the inherent inevitable relationship among the three factors in the process of currency circulation: the total value of goods, the circulation of paper money and the circulation speed of paper money, and the influence of other factors on the value of money is indirectly realized by influencing these three factors.

The value of paper money is directly determined by the inherent law of currency circulation process, and it is the only recognized value measure in society under the condition of paper money circulation. Because only through this kind of currency exchange can we adhere to the principle of equivalent exchange in the process of commodity circulation, and any other artificially specified currency value is untrue, which will harm the interests of one party in the exchange of banknotes and commodities. For example, although the country can stipulate the value represented by paper money by stipulating the gold content, it is meaningless without exchanging gold. If the country maintains the specified gold content of paper money by putting goods on the market, it does not mean that the country can specify the value represented by paper money, but that the country can control the value of paper money by consciously applying the laws that determine the value of paper money. Therefore, the value of paper money is determined by its inherent laws, and it is the only value measure generally recognized by society and actually used in commodity exchange.

(3) The value scale of paper money can be recognized.

The value scale of paper money, that is, whether the commodity value represented by unit paper money is known, is one of the important conditions for whether the paper money itself can perform the function of value scale. This is true for metal money and any other form of money. Because only when the value represented by paper money is recognized can people compare it with the value of the goods in exchange and know whether it is cost-effective after exchange.

Although it is difficult for people to answer that 1 yuan paper money represents several hours of social necessary labor, people can know the value form represented by unit paper money-the purchasing power of unit paper money. In other words, people know the value scale of paper money by knowing its purchasing power.

People know the purchasing power of paper money, that is, people calculate the cost of goods and bargain in transactions.

(d) Paper money itself can express the value of goods as price.

Whether paper money can show the value of goods as price depends on whether there is a qualitative unity between paper money and goods. According to the scientific concept of commodity, paper money is obviously not a commodity, and its own value is not considered in exchange. Does this mean that there is no qualitative unity between paper money and commodities, or that it has no ability to express the value of commodities as prices? This is obviously incorrect, because paper money has not encountered such difficulties in real life.

So where is the unity of the quality of paper money and goods? This is the unity of the value represented by paper money and the value of goods. This unity has become the basis for paper money to express commodity value as price.

If we only know the qualitative unity of paper money and commodities, it is not enough to completely solve the problem that paper money itself can express the value of commodities as prices. We must also know the inherent certainty of the value represented by paper money. As we have explained, the value represented by paper money is directly determined by the inherent law of the currency circulation process, and it is impossible for people to directly give the value represented by paper money.

The unity of the value of paper money and commodities and the inherent certainty of the value of paper money constitute the necessary and sufficient conditions for paper money to express the value of commodities as prices. Because paper money has an intrinsic value scale, it can completely independently express the value of goods with the price of its own unit.

The above analysis shows that paper money can perform the function of value scale independently, and it is not necessary to prove that it can perform the function of circulation means. It can perform these two basic functions of money, indicating that paper money is money, not a "currency symbol". At the same time, paper money is not a commodity. In the exchange with commodities, its own value is not equal to the commodity value, but only represents the value. That is, paper money is money, but not a commodity. According to the consistency principle of the essence of the same thing, it shows that the essence of money cannot be a commodity.

Second, money is a universal equivalent representing the value of goods.

According to the viewpoint of "money commodity theory", it is considered that "money is a special commodity that acts as a universal equivalent" In this definition, the essential attribute of money ultimately comes down to "commodity".

Through the analysis of modern currency forms such as non-convertible paper money and deposit currency, we think that the essence of money is a universal equivalent representing the value of goods. Among them, money represents the value of goods, which is the basis of universal equivalence. By "thing" we mean an objective existence. Money, an objective thing, has different forms of existence in different periods of historical development. However, no matter how the form of money changes, both gold coins and paper money are essentially universal equivalents representing the value of goods.

Under the condition that money takes the form of paper money and deposit money, it is not difficult to understand the essence of money. Because these worthless things can independently perform the function of money, people only consider the value represented by money when exchanging money and goods. The reason why most people still think that money is a "commodity" is only influenced by the habit of using commodity money for a long time and the traditional "money commodity theory".

It is difficult to understand the essence of money in the form of metal money or other commodity money. Because at this time, the value represented by money and the value of goods used as monetary materials are basically the same, and the earlier the form of money is, the higher this consistency is. It is precisely because money and goods are integrated at this time that the essence of money is deeply hidden in this commodity form. As far as money is concerned, its essence is constantly exposed with the development and change of monetary form, and people's understanding of the essence of money can only be deepened with the development and change of monetary form. The emergence of "the theory of money commodity" is the phased achievement of people's understanding of the early form of money.

Although it is difficult to understand the essence of money in the form of commodity money, the essential feature of money is often manifested at this time, that is, the value represented by money is inconsistent with the value of goods used as monetary materials. For example, if a gold coin is completely priced at the beginning of casting, after many times of circulation, even if other factors are not considered, the loss in circulation will reduce its value to a certain extent, but at this time, most people will not hesitate to exchange goods according to its casting face value. People don't care about the difference between the face value of gold coins and their own value, not because the difference is small, nor because people are generous, but because people can still exchange it for goods with the same face value. This shows that gold coins are always exchanged with commodities according to the value they represent. Under the condition that gold bars are used as money, the value represented by money and the value of gold bars as monetary materials will also be inconsistent. Because gold will reduce its unit price with the improvement of labor productivity, even if it is produced earlier, its unit price will also decrease, which is the same as the same product produced in different periods, and it can only sell the same price at the same time. The origin of gold is relatively concentrated, and gold bars are circulated as money throughout the country and even around the world. The change in the value of gold can only be widely recognized after a long time. This makes the gold bar perform the function of value scale-there will be a certain gap between the value it represents and its actual value. Marx once explained this phenomenon. He said: "If the value of the value scale itself decreases, then this will first be manifested in the price changes of those commodities that are directly exchanged with precious metals as commodities in the origin of precious metals. A large part of goods will continue to be valued according to the old value, and the value scale of the old value has become illusory for a long time. " (Das Kapital, Volume I, page 137). In fact, the "changed illusory old value" referred to here is the value represented by gold as a currency, and the degree of "illusion" is the degree of deviation between the value represented by money and the value of gold itself as a monetary material. In addition, in the form of commodity currency, the phenomenon that "bad money drives out good money" is also an inevitable phenomenon determined by the nature of money.

If money is a commodity, then the value of money and the value of money itself, which perform the function of value measure in the form of commodity money, can deviate from this phenomenon and cannot be explained scientifically, because it violates the most basic principle of commodity exchange-the principle of equivalent exchange, that is, it destroys the equivalence relationship between W-G and G-W exchange processes. According to the explanation of "money commodity theory", it is the particularity of money that determines that it can be underestimated and even replaced by worthless things when it is exchanged with other commodities. In fact, this is equivalent to saying that money is a commodity, but it cannot be a commodity when it is exchanged with other commodities. This is a contradictory explanation.

As a natural law, the law of value will never "favor" any member of the commodity family, and any commodity, regardless of its particularity, must abide by the principle of equal exchange. In practice, the reason why the value of money itself is allowed to be lower than the value of the goods exchanged with it is precisely because money is not a commodity. As long as the value it represents is equal to the value of the goods exchanged with it, the equivalent exchange of W and W can be realized in the process of commodity circulation, that is, W-G-W G-W.

Third, the two stages of monetary development.

In the history of currency development, there have been many forms of currency, such as coins, copper coins, silver coins, gold coins, convertible notes, non-convertible notes and deposit currency. The changes of these currency forms are determined by the objective requirements of the development of commodity economy. According to the formation mechanism of monetary value (that is, the value represented by unit currency), we divide various monetary forms into two categories: one is commodity monetary form, that is, a monetary form in which goods are fixed as monetary substances; The other is the independent monetary form, that is, the value form that money exists independently without attaching to any commodity. These two monetary forms also represent two different stages of monetary development. In the early stage of the emergence and development of money, money mainly existed in the form of commodity money, and the appearance of non-convertible paper money marked the second stage of money development, that is, the stage of independent existence of money.

(A) commodity currency stage

1, the monetary form and development of commodity currency stage

Among all kinds of currency forms, convertible paper money and previous currency forms belong to the currency form of commodity currency stage. In this stage of money, except convertible paper money, other forms of money are fixed with a certain commodity as monetary material. It is precisely because the currency at this stage is a commodity in form that it is called commodity currency. Convertible paper money, although not a commodity in itself, because of convertible gold, the value it represents can be stably equal to the monetary value of the specified gold content. It is really the representative of gold, so it can also be regarded as the form of commodity currency.

At this stage, the development trend of money is: the more the commodity economy develops, the larger the scale of social wealth and commodity transactions, and the more commodities with large unit value are used as monetary materials. Among them, gold coins can be described as the most perfect currency form at this stage. However, with the further expansion of the commodity economy, due to the scarcity of gold, when people can no longer use gold to provide enough trading "chips", the historical mission of gold as a monetary material will inevitably end. Judging from the history of currency development, with the withdrawal of gold from the currency phase, the commodity currency phase basically ended.

Convertible paper money, as the last form of commodity currency, is actually an incomplete form of commodity currency and a form of transition from commodity currency form to independent currency form. If monetary materials are used as the standard to divide the types of monetary forms, they belong to independent monetary forms; If divided by the formation mechanism of monetary value, it belongs to the form of commodity currency. We think the latter classification is more meaningful for understanding the nature of money. Although convertible paper money is an incomplete form of commodity currency, it is more advanced than any other form of commodity currency, because it can meet the needs of the expanding commodity economy that other forms of commodity currency cannot meet.

If the appearance of non-convertible paper money is a revolution in the history of currency, then convertible paper money has contributed to the realization of this revolution. At least in changing people's traditional ideas and providing management experience and technical conditions, it prepared for the later revolution.

2. The currency formation mechanism in commodity currency stage.

In the stage of commodity currency, the unit value of money, that is, the representative value, mainly changes with the change of commodity value as a monetary material. Although the law of currency circulation also plays a role in the formation of monetary value, its practical scope is small because of the mechanism of stabilizing monetary value, and it only shows its role when the monetary value deviates from the monetary data value.

For convertible paper money, although the value it represents does not change with the value of monetary data, it mainly changes with the value of the monetary goods it exchanges, and the influence of the law of currency circulation on the formation of monetary value does not occupy a major position. Therefore, the currency formation mechanism of convertible banknotes is basically the same as that of other commodity currencies.

(2) Independent currency stage

The so-called independent monetary stage refers to the stage in which various monetary forms no longer depend on any commodity and exist independently. It can also be called the credit currency stage. The main currency forms at this stage are non-convertible paper money and deposit currency. In addition, according to the different materials for printing cash, it can also be divided into different forms of money. In the deposit currency, there are many sub-categories according to the different technical conditions for filing.

The value formation mechanism of various independent currency forms is the same, that is, the value represented by unit currency is directly determined by the inherent laws in the process of currency circulation.

Compared with commodity currency form, the biggest advantage of independent currency form is to meet the needs of large-scale commodity circulation and modern settlement means; The biggest drawback is that it has no mechanism to stabilize the currency, so the currency is prone to large fluctuations, which in turn affects the normal operation of the economy. However, after all, it is compatible with the current level of development of commodity economy, and it is irreplaceable by any form of commodity currency. Its shortcomings can only be overcome by improving people's ability to control money.

The world's earliest paper money

Jiaozi is considered to be the earliest paper money used in the world. It was issued in Chengdu by China in the Song Dynasty.

Historians have always believed that jiaozi, which originated in the Northern Song Dynasty, was the earliest paper money in the world. Tu Yan Zhi explained that the geographical isolation of Sichuan led to the appearance of Jiaozi in the Northern Song Dynasty, but Jiaozi was not directly involved in circulation. Merchants who take jiaozi out of Sichuan still need to exchange jiaozi for gold, silver, copper and other currencies for trading. "Jiaozi" is a kind of securities, which is equivalent to the current check. During the Southern Song Dynasty, due to the rapid economic development, the manufacture of copper coins could no longer meet the needs of circulation. In addition, the economy of the Southern Song Dynasty mainly relied on overseas trade, which led to the loss of a large number of coins overseas and the emergence of the "Huizi" which could be used for private transactions. In A.D. 1 160, the Huizi was first issued by the government of Lin 'an Prefecture. With his promotion to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, "Huizi" appeared. It was not until the Yuan Dynasty that Kyle Polo spread paper money to Iran, and then to Japan and Korea. It was not until 500 years later, that is, 1690, that paper money appeared in Europe and Sweden.

The emergence of paper money is also a symbol of economic development to some extent. In the history of Southern Song Dynasty 152, paper money was used for more than 100 years, and * * * issued "Huizi" of nearly1400 million yuan. According to the exchange method of 1 two gold coins for 35 copper coins in the Southern Song Dynasty, it was equivalent to issuing 1600 tons of gold. This shows the important use of paper money.

China's original currency was shells used at the end of primitive society. Before the Qin Dynasty, metal currency and coinage appeared. After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, the monetary system was unified, and the square hole gold and copper coins were circulated throughout the country. The earliest paper money was "Jiaozi" in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Copper coins and iron coins were used together in the Song Dynasty, while iron coins were used exclusively in Sichuan. At that time, Sichuan was an important producing area of salt, tea and silk, with a large currency circulation, but heavy iron money. A thousand dollars weighs 25 Jin, and a horse costs 20,000 yuan and weighs 260 Jin. With the development of commodity economy, the disadvantages of inconvenient circulation of iron money are more and more prominent, so there are 16 wealthy businessmen in Song Zhenzong (997- 1022). Jiaozi is printed with pictures of houses, trees and people. And also signed a secret record. Jiaozi can be converted into cash or circulated in the market. When you cash in jiaozi and jiaozi, you have to pay a certain commission. Old and new friends are exchanged every three years. Later, due to the misappropriation of cash by wealthy merchants in Jiaozipu, the exchange of Jiaozipu could not be guaranteed, which often caused disputes, and the government banned merchants from issuing it. 1023 (the first year of Renzong Tiansheng), issued by the government.

Jiaozi is the earliest paper money in China and the world. The emergence of paper money is a great progress in the development of money, which is of epoch-making significance in economic history. The Southern Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty also issued and used paper money. However, paper money was not widely circulated in China feudal society, which could not completely replace metal money. The issuance and use of a large number of paper money in China is something after modern times.