Goldasmeasureofvalueandasstandardofpricehasquitedistinctspecificfunctions,andtheconfusionoftheonewiththeotherhasledtothemostabsurdtheories。Goldasmaterialisedlabour—timeisameasureofvalue,asapieceofmetalofdefiniteweightitisthestandardofprice。Goldbecomesthemeasureofvaluebecauseasanexchange—valueitiscomparedwiththeexchange—valuesofothercommodities;initsaspectasastandardofpriceadefinitequantityofgoldservesasaunitforotherquantitiesofgold。Goldisthemeasureofvaluebecauseitsvalueisvariable;itisthestandardofpricebecauseithasbeenestablishedasaninvariableunitofweight。Here,asinallcasesofmeasuringquantitiesofthesamedenomination,stabilityandexactitudeoftheproportionsisessential。Thenecessityofestablishingaquantityofgoldastheunitofmeasureanditsaliquotpartsassubdivisionsofthisunithasgivenrisetotheideathatafixedratioofvalueshasbeensetupbetweenadefinitequantityofgold,whosevalueisofcoursevariable,andtheexchange—valuesofcommodities。Butsuchaviewsimplyignoresthefactthattheexchange—valuesofcommoditiesareturnedintoprices,intoquantitiesofgold,beforegoldbecomesthestandardofprice。Quiteirrespectiveofanychangesinthevalueofgold,differentquantitiesofgoldwillalwaysrepresentthesameratioofvalueswithregardtooneanother。lfthevalueofgoldshouldfallby1,000percent,thenthevalueoftwelveouncesofgoldwouldstillbetwelvetimesbiggerthanthatofoneounceofgold,andsofaraspricesareconcernedwhatmattersisonlytheproportionofthedifferentquantities^
ofgoldtooneanother。Since,ontheotherhand,ariseorfallinthevalueofanounceofgolddoesnotinanywayaffectitsweight,theweightofitsaliquotpartsremainslikewiseunaffected;goldcanthusalwaysserveasastablestandardofprice,regardlessofanychangesinitsvalue。[3]
Asaresultofanhistoricalprocess,which,asweshallexplainlater,wasdeterminedbythenatureofmetalliccurrency,thenamesofparticularweightswereretainedforconstantlychanginganddiminishingweightsofpreciousmetalsfunctioningasthestandardofprice。ThustheEnglishpoundsterlingdenoteslessthanone—thirdofitsoriginalweight,thepoundScotsbeforetheUniononly1/36,theFrenchlivre1/74,theSpanishmaravedilessthan1/1,000andthePortuguesereianevensmallerproportion。
Historicaldevelopmentthusledtoaseparationofthemoneynamesofcertainweightsofmetalsfromthecommonnamesoftheseweights。[4]Becausethedesignationoftheunitofmeasure,itsaliquotpartsandtheirnamesis,ontheonehand,purelyconventional,andontheotherhandmustbeacceptedasuniversalandindispensablewithinthesphereofcirculation,ithadtobeestablishedbylegalmeans。Thepurelyformalenactmentthusdevolveduponthegovernment。[5]Whichparticularmetalservedasthematerialofmoneydependedonthegivensocialconditions。Thestandardofpriceisofcoursedifferentindifferentcountries。InEngland,forexample,theounceasaweightofmetalisdividedintopennyweights,grainsandcaratstroy;buttheounceofgoldastheunitofmoneyisdividedinto37/8sovereigns,thesovereigninto20shillingsandtheshillinginto12pence,sothat100
poundsof22—caratgold（1,200ounces）equal4,672sovereignsand10shillings。
Butintheworldmarket,wherestatefrontiersdisappear,suchnationalfeaturesofthestandardsofmoneydisappearaswellandarereplacedbymeasuresofweightgenerallyusedformetals。
Thepriceofacommodity,orthequantityofgoldintowhichitisnominallyconverted,isnowexpressedthereforeinthemonetarynamesofthestandardofgold。Thus,insteadofsayingaquarterofwheatisworthanounceofgold,onewouldsayinEnglanditisworth£317s。10/2d。Allpricesarethusexpressedinthesamedenomination。Thespecificformwhichtheexchange—valueofcommoditiesassumesisconvertedintodenominationsofmoney,bywhichtheirvalueisexpressed。Moneyinturnbecomesmoneyofaccount。[6]
Thetransformationofcommoditiesintomoneyofaccountinthemind,onpaperorinwordstakesplacewhenevertheaspectofexchange—valuebecomesfixedinaparticulartypeofwealth。[7]Thistransformationneedsthematerialofgold,butonlyinimagination。
Notasingleatomofrealgoldisusedtoestimatethevalueofathousandbalesofcottonintermsofacertainnumberofouncesofgoldandthentoexpressthisnumberofouncesin£。s。d。,thenamesofaccountoftheounce。Forinstance,notasingleounceofgoldwasincirculationinScotlandbeforeSirRobertPeel\'sBankActof1845,althoughtheounceofgold,called£317s。10/2d。astheBritishstandardofaccount,servedasthelegalstandardofprice。Similarly,silverservesasthestandardofpriceinexchangeofcommoditiesbetweenSiberiaandChina,althoughthistradeisinfactmerelybarter。Itmakesnodifference,therefore,togoldasmoneyofaccountwhetherornotitsstandardunitoritssubdivisionsareactuallycoined。DuringthereignofWilliamtheConqueror,onepoundsterling,atthattimeapoundofpuresilver,andtheshilling,1/20ofapound,existedinEnglandonlyasmoneyofaccount,whilethepenny,1/240ofapoundofsilver,wasthelargestsilvercoininexistence。Ontheotherhand,therearenoshillingsorpenceinEnglandtoday,althoughtheyarelegalnamesofaccountfordefinitefractionsofanounceofgold。
Moneyasmoneyofaccountmayexistonlynominally,whileactuallyexistingmoneymaybecoinedaccordingtoanentirelydifferentstandard。ThusinmanyoftheEnglishcoloniesinNorthAmerica,themoneyincirculationconsistedofSpanishandPortuguesecoinstilllateintheeighteenthcentury,whereasthemoneyofaccountwaseverywherethesameasinEngland。[8]
Becauseasstandardofpricegoldisexpressedbythesamenamesofaccountasthepricesofcommodities——forexample£317s。10/2d。
maydenoteanounceofgoldjustaswellasatonofiron——thesenamesofaccountarecalledthemint—priceofgold。Thusthequeernotionarosethatgoldisestimatedinitsownmaterialandthat,unlikeallothercommodities,itspriceisfixedbytheState。Theestablishingofnamesofaccountfordefiniteweightsofgoldwasmistakenfortheestablishingofthevalueoftheseweights。[9]Goldhasneitherafixedpricenoranypriceatall,whenitisafactorinthedeterminationofpricesandthereforefunctionsasmoneyofaccount。Inordertohaveaprice,inotherwordstobeexpressedintermsofaspecificcommodityfunctioningastheuniversalequivalent,thisothercommoditywouldhavetoplaythesameexclusiveroleintheprocessofcirculationasgold。Buttwocommoditieswhichexcludeallothercommoditieswouldexcludeeachotheraswell。Consequently,whereversilverandgoldexistsidebysideaslegalmoney,i。e。,asmeasureofvalue,thevainattempthasalwaysbeenmadetotreatthemasoneandthesamesubstance。Ifoneassumeshatagivenlabour—timeisinvariablymaterialisedinthesameproportioninsilverandgold,thenoneassumes,infact,thatsilverandgoldarethesamesubstance,andthatsilver,thelessvaluablemetal,representsaconstantfractionofgold。ThehistoryofthemonetarysysteminEnglandfromthereignofEdwardIIIuptothetimeofGeorgeIIconsistsofacontinuousseriesofdisturbancescausedbyconflictbetweenthelegallyestablishedratiobetweenthevaluesofgoldandsilverandtheactualfluctuationsintheirvalue。Sometimesthevalueofgoldwastoohigh,sometimesthatofsilver。Themetalwhosevaluewasestimatedattoolowaratewaswithdrawnfromcirculation,melteddownandexported。Thevalue—ratioofthetwometalswasthenonceagainchangedbylaw;butsoonthenewnominalvalueinitsturnclashedwiththeactualvalue—ratio。Inourowntime,theslightandshort—livedfallinthevalueofgoldascomparedwithsilver,broughtaboutbytheIndianandChinesedemandforsilver,producedthesamephenomenononalargescaleinFrance——theexportofsilverandtheeliminationofsilverfromthesphereofcirculationbygold。Duringtheyears1855,1856and1857,theexcessofFrance\'sgoldimportsoverhergoldexportsamountedto£41,580,000,whiletheexcessof~hersilverexportsoversilverimportscameto£34,704,000。[10]IncountrieslikeFrance,wherebothmetalsarelegallysanctionedmeasuresofvalueandbothareacceptedaslegaltender,wheremoreovereverypersoncanpayintheoneortheothermetalashepleases,themetalwhosevaluerisesisinfactatapremium,anditspricelikethatofanyothercommodityismeasuredintermsoftheover—ratedmetal,whichthusservesaloneasthemeasureofvalue。Allhistoricalexperienceinthisspheresimplyshowsthat,wheretwocommoditiesfunctionaslegallyvalidmeasuresofvalue,itisalwaysoneofthemonlywhichactuallymaintainsthisposition。[11]
FOOTNOTES
1。
Aristotledoesindeedrealisethattheexchange—valueofcommoditiesisantecedenttothepricesofcommodities:\"Thatexchangetookplacethusbeforetherewasmoneyisplain;foritmakesnodifferencewhetheritisfivebedsthatexchangeforahouse,orthemoneyvalueoffivebeds。\"
Ontheotherhand,sinceitisonlyinpricethatcommoditiespossesstheformofexchange—valueinrelationtooneanother,hemakesthemcommensurablebymeansofmoney。\"Thisiswhyallgoodsmusthaveapricesetonthem;
forthentherewillalwaysbeexchange,andifso,associationofmanwithman。Money,then,actingasameasure,makesgoodscommensurateandequatesthem;forneitherwouldtherehavebeenassociationiftherewerenotexchange,norexchangeiftherewerenotequality,norequalityiftherewerenotcommensurability。\"Aristotleisawareofthefactthatthedifferentthingsmeasuredbymoneyareentirelyincommensurablemagnitudes。Whatheseeksistheonenessofcommoditiesasexchange—values,andsincehelivedinancientGreeceitwasimpossibleforhimtofindit。Heextricateshimselffromthispredicamentbymakingessentiallyincommensurablethingscommensurable——sofarasthisisnecessaryforpracticalneeds——bymeansofmoney。
\"Nowintruthitisimpossiblethatthingsdifferingsomuchshouldbecomecommensurate,butwithreferencetodemandtheymaybecomesosufficiently\"
（AristotelesEthicaNicomachea,L。5,C。8,edit。Bekkeri,Oxonii,1837）。[TheEnglishtextisfromAristotle——EthicaNicomachea。
BookV,Chapter8,translationbyW。D。Ross,Oxford,1925,1133b。]
2。
ThestrangefactthattheounceofgoldasthestandardofmoneyinEnglandisnotdividedintoaliquotpartsisaccountedforasfollows:\"Ourcoinagewasoriginallyadaptedtotheemploymentofsilveronly——henceanounceofsilvercanalwaysbedividedintoacertainaliquotnumberofpiecesofcoin,but,asgoldwasintroducedatalaterperiodintoacoinageadaptedonlytosilveranounceofgoldcannotbecoinedintoanaliquotnumberofpieces\"（JamesMaclaren,ASketchoftheHistoryoftheCurrency,London,1858,p。16）。
3。\"Moneymaycontinuallyvaryinvalue,andyetbeasgoodameasureofvalueasifitremainedperfectlystationary。Suppose,forexample,itisreducedinvalue……Beforethereduction,aguineawouldpurchasethreebushelsofwheatorsixdays\'labour,subsequently,itwouldpurchaseonlytwobushelsofwheat,orfourdays\'labour。Inboththesecases,therelationsofwheatandlabourtomoneybeinggiven,theirmutualrelationscanbeinferred;inotherwords,wecanascertainthatabushelofwheatisworthtwodays\'labour。This,whichisallthatmeasuringvalueimplies,isasreadilydoneafterthereductionasbefore。Theexcellenceofanythingasameasureofvalueisaltogetherindependentofitsownvariablenessinvalue\"（SamuelBailey,MoneyanditsVicissitudes,London,1837,pp。9,10）。
4。\"Thecoinswhosenamesarenowonlyimaginaryaretheoldestcoinsofeverynation;alltheirnameswereforatimereal\"（sogenerallystatedthelatterassertionisincorrect）\"andpreciselybecausetheywererealtheywereusedforcalculation\"（Galiani,DellaMoneta,op。cit。,p。
153）。
5。TheromanticA。Müllersays:\"Accordingtoourviewseveryindependentsovereignhastherighttointroducemetalliccurrencvandascribetoitasocialnominalvalue,order,positionandtitle\"（AdamH。Müller,DieElementederStaatskunst,Berlin,1809,BandII,p。288）。Theauliccouncillorisrightasregardsthetitle,butheforgetsthecontent。
Howconfusedhis\"views\"arebecomesevident,forinstance,inthefollowingpassage:\"Everybodyrealiseshowimportantitistodeterminethepriceofcoinscorrectly,especiallyinacountrylikeEngland,wherethegovernmentwithsplendidgenerositycoinsmoneygratuitously\"（Mr。MüllerapparentlyassumesthatthemembersoftheBritishgovernmentdefraythecostsofmintingoutoftheirownpocket）,\"whereitdoesnotlevyseigniorage,etc。,andconsequentlyifitweretofixthemint—priceofgoldconsiderablyabovethe—market—price,ifinsteadofpaying£317s。101/2d。foranounceofgoldasatpresent,itshoulddecidetofixthepriceofanounceofgoldat£319s。,allmoneywouldflowintothemintandthesilverobtainedtherewouldbeexchangedforthecheapergoldonthemarket,andthenitwouldagainbetakentothemint,thusthrowingthemonetarysystemintodisorder\"（op。cit。,pp。280,281）。Müllerthrowshisideasinto\"disorder\",soastopreserveorderatthemintinEngland。
Whereasshillingsandpencearemerelynames,thatisnamesofdefinitefractionsofanounceofgoldrepresentedbysilverandcoppertokens,heimaginesthatanounceofgoldisestimatedintermsofgold,silverandcopperandthusconfersupontheEnglishatriplestandardofvalue。
Silverasthestandardofmoneyalongwithgoldwasformallyabolishedonlyin1816by56GeorgeIII,C。68,althoughitwasinfactlegallyabolishedby14George11,C。42in1734,andinpracticeevenearlier。TwocircumstancesinparticularenabledA。Müllertoarriveataso—calledhigherconceptionofpoliticaleconomy:firsthisextensiveignoranceofeconomicfactsandsecondhispurelyamateurishinfatuationwithphilosophy。
6。\"WhenAnacharsiswasaskedwhattheHellenesusedmoneyforhereplied——forcalculation\"（Athenaeus,Deipnosophistai,L。IV,49v。II,[p。120],ed。Schweighauser,1802）。
7。G。
Garnier,oneofthefirsttotranslateAdamSmithintoFrench,hadtheoddideaofestablishingtheproportionbetweentheuseofmoneyofaccountandthatofrealmoney。[Accordingtohim]thisproportionislOto1（G。
Garnier,Histoiredelamonnaiedepaislestempsdelaplushauteantiquité,t。I,p。78）。
8。TheActofMarylandof1723,whichmadetobaccolegalcurrencybutconverteditsvalueintoEnglishgoldmoney,bydeclaringapoundoftobaccoequaltoapenny,recallsthelegesbarbarorum,whichonthecontraryequateddefinitesumsofmoneywithoxen,cows,etc。Inthiscasetherealmaterialofthemoneyofaccountwasneithergoldnorsilver,buttheoxandthecow。
9。Thusweread,forexample,intheFamiliarWordsofMr。DavidUrquhart——\"Thevalueofgoldistobemeasuredbyitself;howcananysubstancebethemeasureofitsownworthinotherthings？Theworthofgoldistobeestablishedbyitsownweight,underafalsedenominationofthatweight——andanounceistobeworthsomany\'pounds\'andfractionsofpounds。Thisisfalsifyingameasure,notestablishingastandard\"[pp。
104—05]。
10。EarliereditionsofAContributiontotheCritiqueofPoliticalEconomyerroneouslygavethisfigureas£14,704,000。——Ed。
11。Moneyisthemeasureofcommerce……andthereforeoughttobekept（asallothermeasures）assteadyandinvariableasmaybe。Butthiscannotbe,ifyourmoneybemadeoftwometals,whoseproportion……constantlyvariesinrespectofoneanother\"（JohnLocke,SomeConsiderationsontheLoweringofInterest,1691;inhisWorks,7thEdition,London,1768,Vol。II,p。65。
MediumofExchangeKarlMarx\'sACONTRIBUTIONTOTHECRITIQUEOFPOLITICALECONOMY
2。MediumofExchangeWhen,asaresultoftheestablishingofprices,commoditieshaveacquiredtheforminwhichtheyareabletoentercirculationandgoldhasassumeditsfunctionasmoney,thecontradictionslatentintheexchangeofcommoditiesarebothexposedandresolvedbycirculation。Therealexchangeofcommodities,thatisthesocialmetabolicprocess,constitutesatransformationinwhichthedualnatureofthecommodity——commodityasuse—valueandasexchange—value——manifestsitself;butthetransformationofthecommodityitselfis,atthesametime,epitomisedincertainformsofmoney。Todescribethistransformationistodescribecirculation。Commodities,aswehaveseen,constitutefullydevelopedexchange—valueonlywhenaworldofcommoditiesandconsequentlyareallydevelopedsystemofdivisionoflabourispresupposed;
inthesamemannercirculationpresupposesthatactsofexchangearetakingplaceeverywhereandthattheyarebeingcontinuouslyrenewed。Italsopresupposesthatcommoditiesenterintotheprocessofexchangewithadeterminateprice,inotherwordsthatinthecourseofexchangetheyappeartoconfrontoneanotherinadualform——reallyasuse—valuesandnominally（intheprice）asexchange—values。
ThebusieststreetsofLondonarecrowdedwithshopswhoseshowcasesdisplayalltherichesoftheworld,Indianshawls,Americanrevolvers,Chineseporcelain,Parisiancorsets,fursfromRussiaandspicesfromthetropics,butalloftheseworldlythingsbearodious,whitepaperlabelswithArabicnumeralsandthenlaconicsymbols£s。d。Thisishowcommoditiesarepresentedincirculation。
a。TheMetamorphosisofCommoditiesCloserexaminationshowsthatthecirculationprocesscomprisestwodistincttypesofcircuit。IfcommoditiesaredenotedbyCandmoneybyM,thetwocircuitsmayberepresentedinthefollowingway:C——M——CM——C——MInthissectionwearesolelyconcernedwiththefirstcircuit,thatistheonewhichdirectlyexpressescommoditycirculation。
ThecircuitC——M——CmaybedividedintothemovementC——M,theexchangeofcommoditiesformoney,orsale;theoppositemovementM——
C,theexchangeofmoneyforcommodities,orpurchase;andtheunityofthetwomovementsC——M——C,exchangeofcommoditiesformoneysoastoexchangemoneyforcommodities,inotherwords,sellinginordertopurchase。TheoutcomeinwhichthetransactionterminatesisC——C,i。e。,exchangeofonecommodityforanother,actualexchangeofmatter。
C——M——C,whenconsideredfromthepointofdepartureofthefirstcommodity,representsitsconversionintogoldanditsreconversionfromgoldintocommodity;thatistosayamovementinwhichattheoutsetthecommodityappearsasaparticularuse—value,thenshedsthisformofexistenceandassumesthatofexchange—valueoruniversalequivalent——whichisentirelydistinctfromitsnaturalform——finallyitshedsthisaswellandemergesasarealuse—valuewhichcanserveparticularneeds。Inthislastformitdropsoutofthesphereofcirculationandentersthatofconsumption。Thustobeginwith,thewholecircuitofC
——M——Crepresentstheentireseriesofmetamorphosesthroughwhicheveryindividualcommoditypassesinordertobecomeadirectuse—valueforitsowner。ThefirstmetamorphosistakesplaceinC——M,thefirstphaseofthecircuit;thesecondinM——C,theotherphase,andtheentirecircuitformsthecurriculumvitaeofthecommodity。ButthecycleC——
M——Crepresentsthecompletemetamorphosisofanindividualcommodityonlybecauseitisatthesametimeanaggregateofdefinitepartialmetamorphosesofothercommodities。Foreachmetamorphosisofthefirstcommodityisitstransformationintoanothercommodityandthereforethetransformationofthesecondcommodityintothefirst;henceitisadoubletransformationwhichiscarriedthroughduringasinglestageofthecycle。Tostartwith,weshallseparatelyexamineeachofthetwophasesofexchangeintowhichthecycleC——M——Cisresolved。
C——Morsale:C,thecommodity,entersthesphereofcirculationnotjustasaparticularuse—value,e。g。,atonofiron,butasause—valuewithadefiniteprice,say£317s。101/2d。oranounceofgold。
Thepricewhileontheonehandindicatingtheamountoflabour—timecontainedintheiron,namelyitsvalue,atthesametimesignifiesthepiouswishtoconverttheironintogold,thatistogivethelabour—timecontainedintheirontheformofuniversalsociallabour—time。Ifthistransformationfailstotakeplace,thenthetonofironceasestobenotonlyacommoditybutalsoaproduct;sinceitisacommodityonlybecauseitisnotause—valueforitsowner,thatistosayhislabourisonlyreallylabourifitisusefullabourforothers,anditisusefulforhimonlyifitisabstractgenerallabour。Itisthereforethetaskoftheironorofitsownertofindthatlocationintheworldofcommoditieswhereironattractsgold。
Butifthesaleactuallytakesplace,asweassumeinthisanalysisofsimplecirculation,thenthisdifficulty,thesaltomortaleofthecommodity,issurmounted。Asaresultofthisalienation——thatisitstransferfromthepersonforwhomitisanon—use—valuetothepersonforwhomitisause—value——thetonofironprovestobeinfactause—valueanditspriceissimultaneouslyrealised,andmerelyimaginarygoldisconvertedintorealgold。Theterm\"ounceofgold\"or317s。101/2d。,hasnowbeenreplacedbyanounceofrealgold,butthetonofironhasgone。ThesaleC——Mdoesnotmerelytransformthecommodity——whichbymeansofthepricewasnominallyturnedintogold——reallyintogold,butgold,whichasmeasureofvaluewasonlynominallygoldandinfactfunctionedonlyasthemoneynameofcommodities,isthroughthesameprocesstransformedintoactualmoney。[1]Asgoldbecamenominallytheuniversalequivalent,becausethevaluesofallcommoditiesweremeasuredintermsofgold,sonow,asaresultoftheuniversalalienationofcommoditiesinexchangeforit——andthesaleC——Mistheprocedurebywhichthisuniversalalienationisaccomplished——doesitbecometheabsolutelyalienatedcommodity,i。erealmoney。Butgoldbecomesrealmoneythroughsale,onlybecausetheexchange—valuesofcommoditiesexpressedinpriceswerealreadyconvertedintonominalgold。
DuringthesaleC——M,andlikewiseduringthepurchaseM——C,twocommodities,i。e。,unitsofexchange—valueanduse—value,confronteachother;butinthecaseofthecommodityexchange—valueexistsmerelynominallyasitsprice,whereasinthecaseofgold,althoughithasrealuse—value,itsuse—valuemerelyrepresentsexchange—valueandisthereforemerelyaformaluse—valuewhichisnotrelatedtoanyrealindividualneed。Thecontradictionofuse—valueandexchange—valueisthuspolarisedatthetwoextremepointsofC——M,sothatwithregardtogoldthecommodityrepresentsuse—valuewhosenominalexchange—value,theprice,stillhastoberealisedingold;withregardtothecommodity,ontheotherhand,goldrepresentsexchange—valuewhoseformaluse—valuestillhastoacquireamaterialforminthecommodity。Thecontradictionsinherentintheexchangeofcommoditiesareresolvedonlybyreasonofthisduplicationofthecommoditysothatitappearsascommodityandgold,andagainbywayofthedualandoppositerelationinwhicheachextremeisnominalwhereitsoppositeisreal,andrealwhereitsoppositeisnominal,inotherwordstheyareresolvedonlybymeansofpresentingcommoditiesasbilateralpolaropposites。
SofarwehaveregardedC——Masasale,astheconversionofacommodityintomoney。Butifweconsideritfromtheotherside,thenthesametransactionappears,onthecontrary,asM——C,apurchase,theconversionofmoneyintoacommodity。Asaleisinevitablyandsimultaneouslyitsopposite,apurchase;itistheformerifonelooksatthetransactionfromonesideandthelatterifoneseesitfromtheother。Inotherwords,thedifferencebetweenthetransactionsisinrealitymerelythatinC——MtheinitiativecomesfromthesideofthecommodityorofthesellerwhileinM——Citcomesfromthesideofmoneyorofthepurchaser。Whenwedescribethefirstmetamorphosisofthecommodity,itstransformationintomoney,astheresultofthefirstphaseofthecircuit,wesimultaneouslypresupposethatanothercommodityhasalreadybeenconvertedintomoneyandisthereforenowinthesecondphaseofthecircuit,M——C。Wearethuscaughtupinaviciouscircleofpresuppositions。Thisviciouscircleisindeedcirculationitself。IfwedonotregardMinC——Masbelongingtothemetamorphosisofanothercommodity,thenweisolatetheactofexchangefromtheprocessofcirculation。Butifitisseparatedfromtheprocess,thephaseC——
Mdisappearsandthereremainonlytwocommoditieswhichconfronteachother,forinstanceironandgold,whoseexchangeisnotadistinctpartofthecyclebutisdirectbarter。Attheplacewheregoldisproduced,itisacommoditylikeanyothercommodity。Itsrelativevalueandthatofironorofanyothercommodityistherereflectedinthequantitiesinwhichtheyareexchangedforoneanother。Butthistransactionispresupposedintheprocessofcirculation,thevalueofgoldisalreadygiveninthepricesofcommodities。Itwouldthereforebeentirelywrongtoassumethatwithintheframeworkofcirculation,therelationofgoldandcommoditiesisthatofdirectbarterandthatconsequentlytheirrelativevalueisdeterminedbytheirexchangeassimplecommodities。Itseemsasthoughintheprocessofcirculationgoldwereexchangedmerelyasacommodityforothercommodities,butthisillusionarisessimplybecauseadefinitequantityofagivencommodityisequalisedbymeansofpriceswithadefinitequantityofgold:thatis,itiscomparedwithgoldasmoney,theuniversalequivalent,andconsequentlyitcanbedirectlyexchangedforgold。Insofarasthepriceofacommodityisrealisedingold,thecommodityisexchangedforgoldasacommodity,asaparticularmaterialisationoflabour—time;
butinsofarasitisthepriceofthecommoditythatisrealisedingold,thecommodityisexchangedforgoldasmoneyandnotasacommodity,i。e。,forgoldasthematerialisationofgenerallabour—time。Butthequantityofgoldforwhichthecommodityisexchangedintheprocessofcirculationisinbothcasesdeterminednotbymeansofexchange,buttheexchangeisdeterminedbythepriceofthecommodity,byitsexchange—valuecalculatedintermsofgold。[2]
WithintheprocessofcirculationgoldseemstobealwaysacquiredastheresultofasaleC——M。ButsinceC——M,thesale,issimultaneouslyM——C,apurchase,itisevidentthatwhileCthecommoditywhichbeginstheprocessundergoesitsfirstmetamorphosis,theothercommoditywhichconfrontsitasMfromtheoppositeextremeundergoesitssecondmetamorphosisandaccordinglypassesthroughthesecondphaseofthecircuitwhilethefirstcommodityisstillinthefirstphaseofitscycle。