价格是社会对商品价值的评估，工资是社会对服务价值的评估。货币是表达这种评估的媒介。它使我们能够衡量各种商品和服务，并将它们归结到一个共同的基础上，从而便于以一个作为通用标准的统一单位来比较不同的商品与不同的服务。商品的价格和劳动者的工资，都是以这一单位为基础支付的。

The price is the society’s estimate of the value of goods and the wage is the society’s estimate of the value of services. Money is the medium by which this estimate is expressed. It is the medium which enables us to measure various goods and services and refer them to one common basis, thus facilitating the process of making a comparison between various goods and between various services by referring them to one general unit which serves as the general standard. Prices are paid for goods and wages are paid for workers on the basis of this unit.

货币的价值是通过其购买力来衡量的，即一个人用它能够换取多少商品或服务。因此，社会用来衡量商品和服务价值的媒介，必须具备购买力才能被视为货币，也就是说，任何人都能借助它获取商品和服务的一种能力。

The value of money is estimated by its purchasing power i.e. by how much a person could acquire with it in terms of goods or services. Therefore, the medium by which the society estimates the value of goods and services must have a purchasing power in order to qualify as money i.e. a power with which any person could acquire goods and services.

这种媒介本身必须具有内在价值，或依赖于某种内在价值，即它自身应具有公众认可的价值，才能被视为货币。然而在现实中，世界各国发行货币的方式各不相同。一些国家使其货币具有内在价值或依赖于某种内在价值；而另一些国家则使其货币成为约定俗成的货币（不可兑换），即它们共同约定某种媒介作为货币，并赋予其购买力。

This medium must originally have an intrinsic power, or be dependent on an intrinsic power i.e. it should itself have a value recognised by the public, in order to be considered as money. However, in reality the issuing of money differs among the various countries of the world. Some countries have made their money an intrinsic power or dependent on an intrinsic power, while others have made their money a conventional money (inconvertible) i.e. they have agreed upon a medium to be considered as money and they gave it a buying power.

各国发行货币时，可以采用金银本位制，也可以采用不可兑换的纸币。对于实行金银本位制的国家，其发行方式又分为两种：金属货币制，即实行单一或双金属本位制；以及纸币制。 金属货币制是指通过铸造金币或银币来代表不同的价值。这些货币都以一个货币单位为基准，所有货币与商品的各种价值都要以此单位来衡量。每一枚硬币都依据这一单位铸造，并作为该国的通货流通。 实行金银本位制的国家所采用的纸币制，是指国家使用纸币，即可按需兑换成金银的纸质货币。运作这种本位制有两种方式。第一种是国家使纸币代表一定数量的金银，这些金银作为货币或金块存放在特定的地方。在这种情况下，该数量的金属价值等于纸币所标示的面值，纸币可以随时兑换。这被称为有十足准备的纸币（内在价值纸币）。第二种方式是国家决定纸币代表一份凭证，凭证上由签署人承诺见票即向持有人支付一定数额的钱款。在这种情况下，纸币并不代表与其发行面值等值的金银，但发行机构（无论是银行还是政府财政部门）仍会保有低于其面值的金银储备，例如面值的四分之三、三分之二、三分之一、四分之一，或其他任何比例。 例如，一家银行或国库会发行价值5亿第纳尔的纸币，而其保险柜中只保存价值2亿第纳尔的黄金和白银。这种纸币被称为信用纸币（fiduciary paper money）。这些金属储备被称为黄金储备或黄金准备金。无论如何，一个在这种条件下发行货币的国家，实际上是在实行金本位制。

When issuing money, countries may either adopt the gold and silver standard, or the non-exchangeable paper money. As for the countries which operate the gold and silver standard, they follow two methods of issuing: the metallic money method, i.e. either the single/dual metallic standard or the paper money method. The metallic method is where gold and silver coins are issued by minting pieces of gold or silver to represent various values, but based on one monetary unit to which all the various values of money and goods would be referred. Each piece would be coined to be based on this unit, and these pieces would be circulated as the country’s currency. The paper method used in the countries which operate the gold and silver standard means simply that a country would use paper money i.e. paper currency that can be exchanged to gold and silver upon demand. Two methods can be used in operating such a standard; the first method is when a country makes the paper money represent a certain amount of gold and silver deposited in a specific place as money or bullion. In this case, this amount would have a metallic value equal to the nominal value which the paper money holds and the notes can be exchanged on demand. This is known as intrinsic paper money. As for the second way, this would be used when a country decides that the paper money should represent a document in which the undersigned, promises to pay the bearer on demand a certain amount of money. This paper money would not in this case represent the amount of gold and silver which has a metallic value equal to the issued nominal value; the issuing house, be it a bank or a government treasury, would however maintain a lesser amount of gold and silver than its nominal value, for example, three-quarters of the value, two thirds, one third, a quarter or any other percentage of the nominal value. For instance, a bank or the State’s treasury would issue paper money worth 500 million Dinars and maintain in its safes 200 million Dinars worth of gold and silver only. This type of paper money is known as fiduciary paper money. The metallic reserves are known as gold reserves or gold cover. In any case, a country which issues money under these conditions would in fact be operating the gold standard.

这表明，拥有内在价值的媒介，即黄金和白银，本身就是货币，也是货币得以建立的基础。然而，每个国家都会选择自己特定的方式、形状、重量、铸造等，以便将其货币与其他货币区分开来。一个国家也可以约定以黄金和白银为基础的具有内在价值的纸币，这种纸币可以在国内和国外流通，也可以仅用于外汇兑换。一个国家还可以约定发行信用纸币（法定纸币），以其名义价值的一定比例由黄金作为储备支持，即其黄金储备少于其按黄金计算的价值。这些纸币将具有特定的形状和印刷样式，使其成为发行国的货币，并与其他货币区分开来。

This demonstrates that the media which possess an intrinsic power i.e. gold and silver, are in themselves money and are the basis upon which money is based. However each country chooses her own specific method, shape, weight, mint, etc. so that she can distinguish it from other money. A country may also agree on an intrinsic paper currency based on gold and silver either circulating in the country and abroad, or used only in foreign exchanges. A country could also agree upon fiduciary paper money, backed by gold for a certain amount of its nominal value i.e. it would have a gold reserve less than its value in gold. These papers would have a specific shape and print so that they become the currency of the issuing country and so that they are distinguished from other currencies.

至于实行不可兑换纸币本位制的国家，它们发行的纸币不能以固定比率兑换为黄金、白银或任何贵金属。因此，发行这些纸币的机构没有义务应要求以特定价格将纸币兑换为黄金。在这些国家，黄金与其他商品一样，其价格随供求关系而不时波动。这些纸币既无金属储备作为担保，也不能兑换为金属货币。它们只具有法定价值，既不具有内在的价值，也不依赖内在的价值。它们仅仅代表一个被约定为流通媒介的单位，正是法律赋予了它成为流通媒介的效力，人们借此可以获取商品和服务。其效力来源于发行它并将其用作本国货币的国家的权力。

As for the countries who operate a non-exchangeable paper money standard, they issue bills which are not exchangeable to gold or silver or any precious metal with a fixed rate. Therefore, the institution which issues these bills is not liable to exchange these bank notes for gold at a specific price on demand. Gold in such countries is treated just like any other commodity whose price fluctuates from time to time according to supply and demand. These bank notes are not backed by a metallic reserve, nor are they exchangeable to metallic money. They only hold a legal value and do not possess an intrinsic power, nor do they depend on an intrinsic power. They merely represent a unit that has been agreed upon as a means of circulation, and it is the law that gives it the power to become a means of circulation, with which a person may acquire goods and services. Its power is derived from the power of the State who issues it and who uses it as her currency.

由于货币是以上述方式发行的,因此任何国家都可以就某种东西达成一致,用来表示社会对商品和服务的估价,只要这种东西具有购买力,使人能够凭借它从该国获得商品和服务。因此,任何国家都可以发行一种具有固定且明确特质的货币,用来表达社会对商品和服务价值的估量,即一种人们能够凭借其在发行国按照赋予该货币的价值获得商品和服务的货币。正是发行国迫使其他国家承认其货币,以便这些国家能够从它那里获得商品和服务。

Since money is issued in the above mentioned ways, any country could therefore agree upon something which expresses the society’s estimate of goods and services, as long as this thing has purchasing power with which a person could acquire goods and services from that country. Therefore, any country could issue a currency that has a fixed and a distinguished quality, which expresses the society’s estimation of the value of goods and services i.e. a money with which any person could acquire goods and services in the issuing country, according to the value given to that money. It is the issuing country which forces other countries to recognise her currency so that these countries could acquire from her goods and services.

一个国家本不需要依赖国际货币基金组织、世界银行、中央银行或任何其他机构。该单位在获取商品和服务方面的实力足以使其成为货币：它可以本身即是货币，如金和银；也可以依赖金和银，例如内在纸币，其名义价值以金和银来代表；或者通过持有一定数量的金和银储备，如信用纸币的情形。它也可以因其为具有强制接受性的法定货币而成为货币，使人能够用它获取商品和服务，例如不可兑换的纸币，即banknote（钞票）。

A country would not need to depend on the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, a central bank or any other institution. The strength of the unit in obtaining goods and services would be sufficient to turn it into a currency either by itself, such as gold and silver, or by its dependence on gold and silver e.g. intrinsic paper money which represents its nominal value in gold and silver, or through having a certain amount of gold and silver held in reserve, as is the case with fiduciary paper money. This may also be due to it being a legal tender with enforced acceptability which allows a person to acquire with it goods and services, such as the non-exchangeable paper money i.e. the banknote.

过去各国使用金银进行交易，每个国家都会约定一种固定的标记，用于金银上的印记，以便将本国货币与其他国家的货币区分开来。随后，各国在发行金银货币的同时，还会发行带有固定区分标记的纸币。之后，各国又约定在保有金银储备的前提下发行纸币。因此，世界上存在三种货币：由金银制成的金属货币、本身具有价值的纸币（即含有实物价值的纸币），以及不可兑换的纸币。

Countries in the past used to deal in gold and silver, whereby each country would agree upon a specific fixed character for her gold and silver in order to distinguish her money from other countries’ money. Each country would then issue alongside the gold and silver paper money with a fixed distinguished character. Then the country would agree upon the issuing of paper money while maintaining gold and silver reserves. There was therefore three types of money in the world: metallic money made of gold and silver, intrinsic paper money and non-exchangeable banknotes.

自第二次世界大战结束至1971年，全世界通行两种主要货币类型：金属货币和纸币，纸币又分三种类型。然而，自1971年起，全世界开始专门采用不可兑换的纸币本位制，即具有强制接受性的法定货币，直至美国总统尼克松宣布布雷顿森林协定作废，从而切断了美元与黄金之间的联系。

Since the end of the Second World War and until 1971, the whole world used to operate two main types of money, the metallic and the paper money with its three types. However, since 1971 the whole world began operating exclusively the non-exchangeable paper money standard i.e. the legal tender with enforced acceptability, until the U.S. president Nixon declared the Bretton Woods Declaration null and void, thus severing the link between the dollar and gold.