Internationalcirculation,likedomesticcirculation,requiresaconstantlychangingamountofgoldandsilver。Partoftheaccumulatedhoardsisconsequentlyusedbyeverynationasareservefundofworldmoney,afundwhichissometimesdiminished,sometimesreplenishedaccordingtofluctuationsincommodityexchange。[8]Inadditiontoparticularmovementsofworldmoneywhichflowsbackwardsandforwardsbetweennationalspheresofcirculation,thereisageneralmovementofworldmoney;thepointsofdeparturebeingthesourcesofproduction,fromwhichgoldandsilverflowinvariousdirectionstoallthemarketsoftheworld。Thusgoldandsilverascommoditiesenterthesphereofworldcirculationandinproportiontothelabour—timecontainedinthemtheyareexchangedforcommodityequivalentsbeforereachingtheareaofdomesticcirculation。Theyaccordinglyalreadyhaveadefinitevaluewhentheyturnupintheseareas。TheirrelativevalueontheworldmarketisthereforeuniformlyaffectedbyeveryfallorriseintheircostsofproductionandisquiteindependentofthedegreetowhichgoldorsilverisabsorbedbYthevariousnationalspheresofcirculation。Onebranchofthestreamofmetalwhichiscaughtupinaparticularareaoftheworldofcommoditiesimmediatelyentersthedomesticcirculationofmoneyasreplacementofworn—outcoins;anotherisdivertedintovariousreservoirswherecoin,meansofpaymentandworldmoneyaccumulate;athirdisusedtomakeluxuryarticlesandtherest,finally,isturnedsimplyintohoards。Wherethebourgeoismodeofproductionhasreachedanadvancedstagetheformationofhoardsisreducedtotheminimumneededbythedifferentbranchesofthecirculationprocessforthefreeactionoftheirmechanism。Undertheseconditionshoardsassuchconsistonlyofwealthlyingidle,unlesstheyrepresentatemporarysurplusinthebalanceofpayments,theresultofaninterruptionintheinterchangeofproductsandthereforecommoditiescongealedintheirfirstmetamorphosis。
Justasintheorygoldandsilverasmoneyareuniversalcommodities,soworldmoneyistheappropriateformofexistenceoftheuniversalcommodity。
Inthesameproportionasallcommoditiesareexchangedforgoldandsilverthesebecomethetransmutedformofallcommoditiesandhenceuniversallyexchangeablecommodities。Theyarerealisedasembodimentsofuniversallabour—timeinthedegreethattheinterchangeoftheproductsofconcretelabourbecomesworld—wide。Theybecomeuniversalequivalentsinproportiontothedevelopmentoftheseriesofparticularequivalentswhichconstitutetheirspheresofexchange。Becausetheexchange—valueofcommoditiesisuniversallydevelopedininternationalcirculation,itappearstransformedintogoldandsilverasinternationalmoney。Sinceasaresultoftheirversatileindustryandall—embracingcommercethenationsofcommodity—ownershaveturnedgoldintoadequatemoney,theyregardindustryandcommercemerelyasmeansenablingthemtowithdrawmoneyintheformofgoldandsilverfromtheworldmarket。Goldandsilverasinternationalmoneyarethereforeboththeproductsoftheuniversalcirculationofcommoditiesandthemeanstoexpanditsscope。Justasthealchemists,whowantedtomakegold,werenotawareoftheriseofchemistry,socommodity—owners,chasingafteramagicalformofthecommodity,arenotawareofthesourcesofworldindustryandworldtradethatarecomingintobeing。Goldandsilverhelptocreatetheworldmarketbyanticipatingitsexistenceintheirconceptofmoney。Theirmagicaleffectisbynomeansconfinedtotheinfancyofbourgeoissociety,butistheinevitableconsequenceoftheinvertedwayinwhichtheirownsociallabourappearstotherepresentativesoftheworldofcommodities;aproofofthisbeingtheremarkableinfluencewhichthediscoveryofgoldinvariousnewareasexertedoninternationaltradeinthemiddleofthenineteenthcentury。
Asmoneydevelopsintointernationalmoney,sothecommodity—ownerbecomesacosmopolitan。Thecosmopolitanrelationsofmentooneanotheroriginallycompriseonlytheirrelationsascommodity—owners。Commoditiesassuchareindifferenttoallreligious,political,nationalandlinguisticbarriers。
Theiruniversallanguageispriceandtheircommonbondismoney。Buttogetherwiththedevelopmentofinternationalmoneyasagainstnationalcoins,theredevelopsthecommodity—owner\'scosmopolitanism,acultofpracticalreason,inoppositiontothetraditionalreligious,nationalandotherprejudiceswhichimpedethemetabolicprocessofmankind。Thecommodity—ownerrealisesthatnationality\"isbuttheguinea\'sstamp\",sincethesameamountofgoldthatarrivesinEnglandintheshapeofAmericaneaglesisturnedintosovereigns,threedayslatercirculatesasnapoleonsinParisandmaybeencounteredasducatsinVeniceafewweekslater。Thesublimeideainwhichforhimthewholeworldmergesisthatofamarket,theworldmarket。[9]