The function of money is to measure or express the value of all commodities.

Money can be used as a measure of value, because it is also a commodity with value.

Labor time is the intrinsic value measure of commodities, while money is its external value measure and the external expression of the intrinsic value measure of commodities.

When carrying out the function of value scale, money does not need real money, but only conceptual or imaginary money.

Because the function of money as a measure of value is only to express the value of goods, not to realize the value of goods.

For example, the price of goods in the store is expressed by labels, and there is no need to put cash there; A piece of cloth is worth an ounce or two of gold, but you don't have to hold it in your hand.

The monetary expression of commodity value is price.

Under the condition of consistent price and value, commodity price is mainly determined by two factors: commodity value and metal currency.

The change of different commodity prices is directly proportional to the change of commodity value, but inversely proportional to the change of monetary value.

Because money itself has a problem of value and price, its value and price will change with the continuous improvement of productivity.

In order to express and measure the value of various commodities, money itself needs a unit of measurement. For example, in order to enable gold and silver to measure and compare the value of various commodities, gold and silver are divided into two types, currency and graded units of measurement.

This currency, which contains a monetary unit with a certain metal weight, and its equivalent are called price standards.

2. Means of circulation The function of money as a medium of exchange in commodity circulation is the means of circulation of money.

As a means of circulation, money must be real money, not conceptual money.

Commodity exchange through money is commodity circulation, and its formula is: commodity-currency-commodity.

Before currency appeared, commodity exchange was a direct barter exchange, and its formula was: commodity-commodity.

There is obviously a difference between these two kinds of communication.

In barter, buying and selling are done together in time and space, while commodity circulation with money as the medium decomposes the buying and selling of commodities into two independent processes: one is the process of selling, that is, from commodity form to currency form.

This change is related to the fate of commodity producers.

The other is the process of buying, that is, changing from monetary form to commodity form.

This transformation is relatively easy to achieve.

The transformation of barter into commodity circulation is a kind of progress, which promotes the development of commodities. However, as a means of circulation, money will lead to the disconnection between buying and selling, thus hiding the possibility of crisis.

Because some people sell but don't buy, it will inevitably make other people's goods unable to sell, and there will be a crisis.

Of course, this possibility needs a certain degree of commodity economy development to become a reality.

3. Storage means that after the commodity owner sells the commodity, if he no longer buys it, but stores the currency as wealth, then the currency plays a role in storage.

Storage refers to the withdrawal of money from the circulation field and its preservation as an independent form of value and a general representative of social wealth.

As long as the circulation of commodities is interrupted and the commodity owners do not buy the commodities they need immediately after selling them, money will withdraw from the circulation field and become a storage currency.

Money can be a means of storage because it is a general representative of social wealth. As long as there is, it can be changed into any kind of goods at any time, thus arousing people's desire to store.

The currency that performs the function of storage means must be full-price metal currency or metal bar.

As a means of storage, money has the function of spontaneously regulating the circulation of money.

When the amount of money needed for commodity circulation decreases, the rest will withdraw from circulation and become storage money; When the amount of money needed for commodity circulation increases, a part of the stored money will spontaneously join the circulation process.

In this way, storing money is like a reservoir, which spontaneously adjusts the amount of money in circulation to meet the needs of commodity circulation.

4. Payment method The purchase and sale of goods was initially paid in cash. With the development of commodity circulation, the transfer of commodities and the payment of price are sometimes separated, that is, the phenomenon of credit purchase and credit sale has appeared.

Commodity production has various production conditions and sales conditions.

Some production is perennial, while sales are seasonal, such as fireworks, firecrackers and other holiday supplies.

Some production is seasonal, while the consumption of producers (such as farmers and hunters) is perennial, which requires credit purchase and credit sales.

A farmer can't cultivate land without a plow, but he has no money to buy a plow before harvesting food in autumn.

The trade between blacksmith and farmer can only be done in this way: the blacksmith sells the plow to the farmer first, and the farmer delays the price of the plow until the autumn harvest.

Here, money is not directly used as a medium of commodity exchange, because the sale of commodities has been completed without money as a medium, and the payment of money is only to repay the credit of farmers to blacksmiths.

When the payment for goods is deferred, money performs the function of means of payment.

Money, as a means of payment, was originally within the scope of commodity circulation, and later extended beyond the scope of commodity circulation to pay land rent, land rent, interest and wages.

As a means of payment, money can make goods circulate without cash, which is beneficial to the development of commodity economy, but it also further expands the contradiction of commodity economy.

Commodity producers owe each other credit, forming a series of creditor's rights and debt chains. Failure to pay on time in any link will cause a chain reaction, which will make many commodity producers difficult to operate and even go bankrupt.

Therefore, the possibility of crisis when money is used as a means of circulation is further developed when it is used as a means of payment.

5. World Currency With the emergence and development of international trade, the role of money transcends the limits of national boundaries and plays a role in the world market.

So money has the function of the world currency.

Universal equivalent, as an international commodity exchange, is the world currency.

As a world currency, it used to be a full-value metal currency.

In contemporary world economic relations, the banknotes of some countries with strong economic strength and great international influence, such as US dollars, British pounds and Japanese yen, can also play the role of world currency to a certain extent and scope.