ChapterThreeKarlMarxCapitalVolumeOnePartI:
CommoditiesandMoneyCHAPTERTHREE:
MONEY，ORTHECIRCULATIONOFCOMMODITIES
ContentsSection1？TheMeasureofValuesSection2？TheMediumofCirculationA。TheMetamorphosisofCommoditiesB。TheCurrencyofMoneyC。CoinandSymbolsofValueSection3？MoneyA。HoardingB。MeansofPaymentC。UniversalMoneySECTION1THEMEASUREOFVALUES
Throughoutthiswork，Iassume，forthesakeofsimplicity，goldasthemoney—commodity。
Thefirstchieffunctionofmoneyistosupplycommoditieswiththematerialfortheexpressionoftheirvalues，ortorepresenttheirvaluesasmagnitudesofthesamedenomination，qualitativelyequal，andquantitativelycomparable。Itthusservesasauniversalmeasureofvalue。Andonlybyvirtueofthisfunctiondoesgold，theequivalentcommodityparexcellence，becomemoney。
Itisnotmoneythatrenderscommoditiescommensurable。Justthecontrary。
Itisbecauseallcommodities，asvalues，arerealisedhumanlabour，andthereforecommensurable，thattheirvaluescanbemeasuredbyoneandthesamespecialcommodity，andthelatterbeconvertedintothecommonmeasureoftheirvalues，i。e。，intomoney。Moneyasameasureofvalue，isthephenomenalformthatmustofnecessitybeassumedbythatmeasureofvaluewhichisimmanentincommodities，labour—time。[1]
Theexpressionofthevalueofacommodityingold？xcommodityA=ymoney—commodity？isitsmoney—formorprice。Asingleequation，suchas1tonofiron=2ouncesofgold，nowsufficestoexpressthevalueoftheironinasociallyvalidmanner。Thereisnolongeranyneedforthisequationtofigureasalinkinthechainofequationsthatexpressthevaluesofallothercommodities，becausetheequivalentcommodity，gold，nowhasthecharacterofmoney。Thegeneralformofrelativevaluehasresumeditsoriginalshapeofsimpleorisolatedrelativevalue。Ontheotherhand，theexpandedexpressionofrelativevalue，theendlessseriesofequations，hasnowbecometheformpeculiartotherelativevalueofthemoney—commodity。Theseriesitself，too，isnowgiven，andhassocialrecognitioninthepricesofactualcommodities。Wehaveonlytoreadthequotationsofaprice—listbackwards，tofindthemagnitudeofthevalueofmoneyexpressedinallsortsofcommodities。Butmoneyitselfhasnoprice。Inordertoputitonanequalfootingwithallothercommoditiesinthisrespect，weshouldbeobligedtoequateittoitselfasitsownequivalent;
Thepriceormoney—formofcommoditiesis，liketheirformofvaluegenerally，aformquitedistinctfromtheirpalpablebodilyform;itis，therefore，apurelyidealormentalform。Althoughinvisible，thevalueofiron，linenandcornhasactualexistenceintheseveryarticles:itisideallymadeperceptiblebytheirequalitywithgold，arelationthat，sotosay，existsonlyintheirownheads。Theirownermust，therefore，lendthemhistongue，orhangaticketonthem，beforetheirpricescanbecommunicatedtotheoutsideworld。[2]Sincetheexpressionofthevalueofcommoditiesingoldisamerelyidealact，wemayuseforthispurposeimaginaryoridealmoney。Everytraderknows，thatheisfarfromhavingturnedhisgoodsintomoney，whenhehasexpressedtheirvalueinapriceorinimaginarymoney，andthatitdoesnotrequiretheleastbitofrealgold，toestimateinthatmetalmillionsofpounds’worthofgoods。When，therefore，moneyservesasameasureofvalue;itisemployedonlyasimaginaryoridealmoney。
Thiscircumstancehasgivenrisetothewildesttheories。[3]But，althoughthemoneythatperformsthefunctionsofameasureofvalueisonlyidealmoney，pricedependsentirelyupontheactualsubstancethatismoney。Thevalue，orinotherwords，thequantityofhumanlabourcontainedinatonofiron，isexpressedinimaginationbysuchaquantityofthemoney—commodityascontainsthesameamountoflabourastheiron。According，therefore，asthemeasureofvalueisgold，silver，orcopper，thevalueofthetonofironwillbeexpressedbyverydifferentprices，orwillberepresentedbyverydifferentquantitiesofthosemetalsrespectively。
If，therefore，twodifferentcommodities，suchasgoldandsilver，aresimultaneouslymeasuresofvalue，allcommoditieshavetwoprices？oneagold—price，theotherasilver—price。Theseexistquietlysidebyside，solongastheratioofThevalueofsilvertothatofgoldremainsunchanged，say，at15:1。Everychangeintheirratiodisturbstheratiowhichexistsbetweenthegold—pricesandthesilver—pricesofcommodities，andthusproves，byfacts，thatadoublestandardofvalueisinconsistentwiththefunctionsofastandard;[4]
Commoditieswithdefinitepricespresentthemselvesundertheform;acommodityA=xgold;bcommodityB=zgold;ccommodityC=ygold，&c。，wherea，b，c，representdefinitequantitiesofthecommoditiesA，B，Candx，z，y，definitequantitiesofgold。Thevaluesofthesecommoditiesare，therefore，changedinimaginationintosomanydifferentquantitiesofgold。Hence，inspiteoftheconfusingvarietyofthecommoditiesthemselves，theirvaluesbecomemagnitudesofthesamedenomination，gold—magnitudes。
Theyarenowcapableofbeingcomparedwitheachotherandmeasured，andthewantbecomestechnicallyfeltofcomparingthemwithsomefixedquantityofgoldasaunitmeasure。Thisunit，bysubsequentdivisionintoaliquotparts，becomesitselfthestandardorscale。Beforetheybecomemoney，gold，silver，andcopperalreadypossesssuchstandardmeasuresintheirstandardsofweight，sothat，forexample，apoundweight，whileservingastheunit，is，ontheonehand，divisibleintoounces，and，ontheother，maybecombinedtomakeuphundredweights。[5]Itisowingtothisthat，inallmetalliccurrencies，thenamesgiventothestandardsofmoneyorofpricewereoriginallytakenfromthepre—existingnamesofthestandardsofweight。
AsmeasureofValue，andasstandardofprice，moneyhastwoentirelydistinctfunctionstoperform。Itisthemeasureofvalueinasmuchasitisthesociallyrecognisedincarnationofhumanlabour;
itisthestandardofpriceinasmuchasitisafixedweightofmetal。
Asthemeasureofvalueitservestoconvertthevaluesofallthemanifoldcommoditiesintoprices，intoimaginaryquantitiesofgold;asthestandardofpriceitmeasuresthosequantitiesofgold。Themeasureofvaluesmeasurescommoditiesconsideredasvalues;thestandardofpricemeasures，onthecontrary，quantitiesofgoldbyaunitquantityofgold，notthevalueofonequantityofgoldbytheweightofanother。Inordertomakegoldastandardofprice，acertainweightmustbefixeduponastheunit。Inthiscase，asinallcasesofmeasuringquantitiesofthesamedenomination，theestablishmentofanunvaryingunitofmeasureisall—important。Hence，thelesstheunitissubjecttovariation，somuchthebetterdoesthestandardofpricefulfilitsoffice。Butonlyinsofarasitisitselfaproductoflabour，and，therefore，potentiallyvariableinvalue，cangoldserveasameasureofvalue。[6]
Itis，inthefirstplace，quiteclearthatachangeinthevalueofgolddoesnot，inanyway，affectitsfunctionasastandardofprice。
Nomatterhowthisvaluevaries，theproportionsbetweenthevaluesofdifferentquantitiesofthemetalremainconstant。Howevergreatthefallinitsvalue，12ouncesofgoldstillhave12timesthevalueof1ounce;
andinprices，theonlythingconsideredistherelationbetweendifferentquantitiesofgold。Since，ontheotherhand，noriseorfallinthevalueofanounceofgoldcanalteritsweight，noalterationcantakeplaceintheweightofitsaliquotparts。Thusgoldalwaysrendersthesameserviceasaninvariablestandardofprice，howevermuchitsvaluemayvary。
Inthesecondplace，achangeinthevalueofgolddoesnotinterferewithitsfunctionsasameasureofvalue。Thechangeaffectsallcommoditiessimultaneously，and，therefore，caeterisparibus，leavestheirrelativevaluesinterse，unaltered，althoughthosevaluesarenowexpressedinhigherorlowergold—prices。
Justaswhenweestimatethevalueofanycommoditybyadefinitequantityoftheuse—valueofsomeothercommodity，soinestimatingthevalueoftheformeringold，weassumenothingmorethanthattheproductionofagivenquantityofgoldcosts，atthegivenperiod，agivenamountoflabour。Asregardsthefluctuationsofpricesgenerally，theyaresubjecttothelawsofelementaryrelativevalueinvestigatedinaformerchapter。
Ageneralriseinthepricesofcommoditiescanresultonly，eitherfromariseintheirvalues？thevalueofmoneyremainingconstant？orfromafallinthevalueofmoney，thevaluesofcommoditiesremainingconstant。Ontheotherhand，ageneralfallinpricescanresultonly，eitherfromafallinthevaluesofcommodities？thevalueofmoneyremainingconstant？orfromariseinthevalueofmoney，thevaluesofcommoditiesremainingconstant。Itthereforebynomeansfollows，thatariseinthevalueofmoneynecessarilyimpliesaproportionalfallinthepricesofcommodities;orthatafallinthevalueofmoneyimpliesaproportionalriseinprices。Suchchangeofpriceholdsgoodonlyinthecaseofcommoditieswhosevalueremainsconstant。Withthose，forexample，whosevaluerises，simultaneouslywith，andproportionallyto，thatofmoney，thereisnoalterationinprice。Andiftheirvalueriseeitherslowerorfasterthanthatofmoney，thefallorriseintheirpriceswillbedeterminedbythedifferencebetweenthechangeintheirvalueandthatofmoney;andsoon。
Letusnowgobacktotheconsiderationoftheprice—form。
Bydegreestherearisesadiscrepancybetweenthecurrentmoneynamesofthevariousweightsofthepreciousmetalfiguringasmoney，andtheactualweightswhichthosenamesoriginallyrepresented。Thisdiscrepancyistheresultofhistoricalcauses，amongwhichthechiefare:？（1）Theimportationofforeignmoneyintoanimperfectlydevelopedcommunity。ThishappenedinRomeinitsearlydays，wheregoldandsilvercoinscirculatedatfirstasforeigncommodities。Thenamesoftheseforeigncoinsnevercoincidewiththoseoftheindigenousweights。（2）Aswealthincreases，thelesspreciousmetalisthrustoutbythemorepreciousfromitsplaceasameasureofvalue，copperbysilver，silverbygold，howevermuchthisorderofsequencemaybeincontradictionwithpoeticalchronology;[7]Thewordpound，forinstance，wasthemoney—namegiventoanactualpoundweightofsilver。Whengoldreplacedsilverasameasureofvalue，thesamenamewasappliedaccordingtotheratiobetweenthevaluesofsilverandgold，toperhaps1—15thofapoundofgold。Thewordpound，asamoney—name，thusbecomesdifferentiatedfromthesamewordasaweight—name。[8]（3）Thedebasingofmoneycarriedonforcenturiesbykingsandprincestosuchanextentthat，oftheoriginalweightsofthecoins，nothinginfactremainedbutthenames。[9]
Thesehistoricalcausesconverttheseparationofthemoney—namefromtheweight—nameintoanestablishedhabitwiththecommunity。Sincethestandardofmoneyisontheonehandpurelyconventional，andmustontheotherhandfindgeneralacceptance，itisintheendregulatedbylaw。
Agivenweightofoneofthepreciousmetals，anounceofgold，forinstance，becomesofficiallydividedintoaliquotparts，withlegallybestowednames，suchaspound，dollar，&c。Thesealiquotparts，whichthenceforthserveasunitsofmoney，arethensubdividedintootheraliquotpartswithlegalnames，suchasshilling，penny，&c。[10]But，bothbeforeandafterthesedivisionsaremade，adefiniteweightofmetalisthestandardofmetallicmoney。Thesolealterationconsistsinthesubdivisionanddenomination。
Theprices，orquantitiesofgold，intowhichthevaluesofcommoditiesareideallychanged，arethereforenowexpressedinthenamesofcoins，orinthelegallyvalidnamesofthesubdivisionsofthegoldstandard。
Hence，insteadofsaying:Aquarterofwheatisworthanounceofgold;
wesay，itisworth£317s。101/2d。Inthiswaycommoditiesexpressbytheirpriceshowmuchtheyareworth，andmoneyservesasmoneyofaccountwheneveritisaquestionoffixingthevalueofanarticleinitsmoney—form。[11]
Thenameofathingissomethingdistinctfromthequalitiesofthatthing。Iknownothingofaman，byknowingthathisnameisJacob。Inthesamewaywithregardtomoney，everytraceofavalue—relationdisappearsinthenamespound，dollar，franc，ducat，&c。Theconfusioncausedbyattributingahiddenmeaningtothesecabalisticsignsisallthegreater，becausethesemoney—namesexpressboththevaluesofcommodities，and，atthesametime，aliquotpartsoftheweightofthemetalthatisthestandardofmoney。[12]Ontheotherhand，itisabsolutelynecessarythatvalue，inorderthatitmaybedistinguishedfromthevariedbodilyformsofcommodities，shouldassumethismaterialandunmeaning，but，atthesametime，purelysocialform。[13]
Priceisthemoney—nameofthelabourrealisedinacommodity。Hencetheexpressionoftheequivalenceofacommoditywiththesumofmoneyconstitutingitsprice，isatautology，[14]justasingeneraltheexpressionoftherelativevalueofacommodityisastatementoftheequivalenceoftwocommodities。Butalthoughprice，beingtheexponentofthemagnitudeofacommodity’svalue，istheexponentofitsexchange—ratiowithmoney，itdoesnotfollowthattheexponentofthisexchange—ratioisnecessarilytheexponentofthemagnitudeofthecommodity’svalue。Supposetwoequalquantitiesofsociallynecessarylabourtoberespectivelyrepresentedby1quarterofwheatand£2
（nearly1/2oz。ofgold），£2istheexpressioninmoneyofthemagnitudeofthevalueofthequarterofwheat，orisitsprice。Ifnowcircumstancesallowofthispricebeingraisedto£3，orcompelittobereducedto£1，thenalthough£1and£3maybetoosmallortoogreatproperlytoexpressthemagnitudeofthewheat’svalue;neverthelesstheyareitsprices，fortheyare，inthefirstplace，theformunderwhichitsvalueappears，i。e。，money;andinthesecondplace，theexponentsofitsexchange—ratiowithmoney。Iftheconditionsofproduction，inotherwords，iftheproductivepoweroflabourremainconstant，thesameamountofsociallabour—timemust，bothbeforeandafterthechangeinprice，beexpendedinthereproductionofaquarterofwheat。Thiscircumstancedepends，neitheronthewillofthewheatproducer，noronthatoftheownersofothercommodities。
Magnitudeofvalueexpressesarelationofsocialproduction，itexpressestheconnexionthatnecessarilyexistsbetweenacertainarticleandtheportionofthetotallabour—timeofsocietyrequiredtoproduceit。Assoonasmagnitudeofvalueisconvertedintoprice，theabovenecessaryrelationtakestheshapeofamoreorlessaccidentalexchange—ratiobetweenasinglecommodityandanother，themoney—commodity。Butthisexchange—ratiomayexpresseithertherealmagnitudeofthatcommodity’svalue，orthequantityofgolddeviatingfromthatvalue，forwhich，accordingtocircumstances，itmaybepartedwith。Thepossibility，therefore，ofquantitativeincongruitybetweenpriceandmagnitudeofvalue，orthedeviationoftheformerfromthelatter，isinherentintheprice—formitself。Thisisnodefect，but，onthecontrary，admirablyadaptstheprice—formtoamodeofproductionwhoseinherentlawsimposethemselvesonlyasthemeanofapparentlylawlessirregularitiesthatcompensateoneanother。
Theprice—form，however，isnotonlycompatiblewiththepossibilityofaquantitativeincongruitybetweenmagnitudeofvalueandprice，i。e。，betweentheformeranditsexpressioninmoney，butitmayalsoconcealaqualitativeinconsistency，somuchso，that，althoughmoneyisnothingbutthevalue—formofcommodities，priceceasesaltogethertoexpressvalue。
Objectsthatinthemselvesarenocommodities，suchasconscience，honour，&c。，arecapableofbeingofferedforsalebytheirholders，andofthusacquiring，throughtheirprice，theformofcommodities。Henceanobjectmayhaveapricewithouthavingvalue。Thepriceinthatcaseisimaginary，likecertainquantitiesinmathematics。Ontheotherhand，theimaginaryprice—formmaysometimesconcealeitheradirectorindirectrealvalue—relation;forinstance，thepriceofuncultivatedland，whichiswithoutvalue，becausenohumanlabourhasbeenincorporatedinit。
Price，likerelativevalueingeneral，expressesthevalueofacommodity（e。g。，atonofiron），bystatingthatagivenquantityoftheequivalent（e。g。，anounceofgold），isdirectlyexchangeableforiron。Butitbynomeansstatestheconverse，thatironisdirectlyexchangeableforgold。Inorder，therefore，thatacommoditymayinpracticeacteffectivelyasexchange—value，itmustquititsbodilyshape，musttransformitselffrommereimaginaryintorealgold，althoughtothecommoditysuchtransubstantiationmaybemoredifficultthantotheHegelian\"concept，\"thetransitionfrom\"necessity\"to\"freedom，\"ortoalobsterthecastingofhisshell，ortoSaintJerometheputtingoffoftheoldAdam。[15]Thoughacommoditymay，sidebysidewithitsactualform（iron，forinstance），takeinourimaginationtheformofgold，yetitcannotatoneandthesametimeactuallybebothironandgold。Tofixitsprice，itsufficestoequateittogoldinimagination。Buttoenableittorendertoitsownertheserviceofauniversalequivalent，itmustbeactuallyreplacedbygold。Iftheowneroftheironweretogototheownerofsomeothercommodityofferedforexchange，andweretoreferhimtothepriceoftheironasproofthatitwasalreadymoney，hewouldgetthesameanswerasSt。PetergaveinheaventoDante，whenthelatterrecitedthecreed？
\"AssadbeneetrascorsaD’estamonetagialalegae’lpeso，Madimmisetul’hainellatuaborsa。\"
Apricethereforeimpliesboththatacommodityisexchangeableformoney，andalsothatitmustbesoexchanged。Ontheotherhand，goldservesasanidealmeasureofvalue，onlybecauseithasalready，intheprocessofexchange，establisheditselfasthemoney—commodity。Undertheidealmeasureofvaluestherelurksthehardcash。
SECTION2THEMEDIUMOFCIRCULATION
A。TheMetamorphosisofCommoditiesWesawinaformerchapterthattheexchangeofcommoditiesimpliescontradictoryandmutuallyexclusiveconditions。Thedifferentiationofcommoditiesintocommoditiesandmoneydoesnotsweepawaytheseinconsistencies，butdevelopsamodusvivendi，aforminwhichtheycanexistsidebyside。Thisisgenerallythewayinwhichrealcontradictionsarereconciled。Forinstance，itisacontradictiontodepictonebodyasconstantlyfallingtowardsanother，andas，atthesametime，constantlyflyingawayfromit。Theellipseisaformofmotionwhich，whileallowingthiscontradictiontogoon，atthesametimereconcilesit。
Insofarasexchangeisaprocess，bywhichcommoditiesaretransferredfromhandsinwhichtheyarenon—use—values，tohandsinwhichtheybecomeuse—values，itisasocialcirculationofmatter。Theproductofoneformofusefullabourreplacesthatofanother。Whenonceacommodityhasfoundaresting—place，whereitcanserveasause—value，itfallsoutofthesphereofexchangeintothatofconsumption。Buttheformerspherealoneinterestsusatpresent。Wehave，therefore，nowtoconsiderexchangefromaformalpointofview;toinvestigatethechangeofformormetamorphosisofcommoditieswhicheffectuatesthesocialcirculationofmatter。
Thecomprehensionofthischangeofformis，asarule，veryimperfect。
Thecauseofthisimperfectionis，apartfromindistinctnotionsofvalueitself，thateverychangeofforminacommodityresultsfromtheexchangeoftwocommodities，anordinaryoneandthemoney—commodity。Ifwekeepinviewthematerialfactalonethatacommodityhasbeenexchangedforgold，weoverlooktheverythingthatweoughttoobserve？namely，whathashappenedtotheformofthecommodity。Weoverlookthefactsthatgold，whenamerecommodity，isnotmoney，andthatwhenothercommoditiesexpresstheirpricesingold，thisgoldisbutthemoney—formofthosecommoditiesthemselves。
Commodities，firstofall，enterintotheprocessofexchangejustastheyare。Theprocessthendifferentiatesthemintocommoditiesandmoney，andthusproducesanexternaloppositioncorrespondingtotheinternaloppositioninherentinthem，asbeingatonceuse—valuesandvalues。Commoditiesasuse—valuesnowstandopposedtomoneyasexchange—value。Ontheotherhand，bothopposingsidesarecommodities，unitiesofuse—valueandvalue。Butthisunityofdifferencesmanifestsitselfattwooppositepoles，andateachpoleinanoppositeway。Beingpolestheyareasnecessarilyoppositeastheyareconnected。Ontheonesideoftheequationwehaveanordinarycommodity，whichisinrealityause—value。
Itsvalueisexpressedonlyideallyinitsprice，bywhichitisequatedtoitsopponent，thegold，astotherealembodimentofitsvalue。Ontheotherhand，thegold，initsmetallicreality，ranksastheembodimentofvalue，asmoney。Gold，asgold，isexchange—valueitself。Astoitsuse—value，thathasonlyanidealexistence，representedbytheseriesofexpressionsofrelativevalueinwhichitstandsfacetofacewithallothercommodities，thesumofwhoseusesmakesupthesumofthevarioususesofgold。Theseantagonisticformsofcommoditiesaretherealformsinwhichtheprocessoftheirexchangemovesandtakesplace。
Letusnowaccompanytheownerofsomecommodity？say，ouroldfriendtheweaveroflinen？tothesceneofaction，themarket。His20yardsoflinenhasadefiniteprice，£2。Heexchangesitforthe£2，andthen，likeamanofthegoodoldstampthatheis，hepartswiththe£2forafamilyBibleofthesameprice。Thelinen，whichinhiseyesisamerecommodity，adepositoryofvalue，healienatesinexchangeforgold，whichisthelinen’svalue—form，andthisformheagainpartswithforanothercommodity，theBible，whichisdestinedtoenterhishouseasanobjectofutilityandofedificationtoitsinmates。Theexchangebecomesanaccomplishedfactbytwometamorphosesofoppositeyetsupplementarycharacter？theconversionofthecommodityintomoney，andthere—conversionofthemoneyintoacommodisp;[16]Thetwophasesofthismetamorphosisarebothofthemdistincttransactionsoftheweaver？selling，ortheexchangeofthecommodityformoney;buying，ortheexchangeofthemoneyforacommodity;and，theunityofthetwoacts，sellinginordertobuy。
Theresultofthewholetransaction，asregardstheweaver，isthis，thatinsteadofbeinginpossessionofthelinen，henowhastheBible;
insteadofhisoriginalcommodity，henowpossessesanotherofthesamevaluebutofdifferentutility。Inlikemannerheprocureshisothermeansofsubsistenceandmeansofproduction。Fromhispointofview，thewholeprocesseffectuatesnothingmorethantheexchangeoftheproductofhislabourfortheproductofsomeoneelse’s，nothingmorethananexchangeofproducts。
Theexchangeofcommoditiesisthereforeaccompaniedbythefollowingchangesintheirform。
Commodity？Money？Commodity。
C棗棗棗M棗棗棗C。
Theresultofthewholeprocessis，sofarasconcernstheobjectsthemselves，C？C，theexchangeofonecommodityforanother，thecirculationofmaterialisedsociallabour。Whenthisresultisattained，theprocessisatanend。
C？M。Firstmetamorphosis，orsaleTheleaptakenbyvaluefromthebodyofthecommodity，intothebodyofthegold，is，asIhaveelsewherecalledit，thesaltomortaleofthecommodity。Ifitfallsshort，then，althoughthecommodityitselfisnotharmed，itsownerdecidedlyis。Thesocialdivisionoflabourcauseshislabourtobeasone—sidedashiswantsaremany—sided。Thisispreciselythereasonwhytheproductofhislabourserveshimsolelyasexchange—value。
Butitcannotacquirethepropertiesofasociallyrecogniseduniversalequivalent，exceptbybeingconvertedintomoney。Thatmoney，however，isinsomeoneelse’spocket。Inordertoenticethemoneyoutofthatpocket，ourfriend’scommoditymust，aboveallthings，beause—valuetotheownerofthemoney。Forthis，itisnecessarythatthelabourexpendeduponit，beofakindthatissociallyuseful，ofakindthatconstitutesabranchofthesocialdivisionoflabour。Butdivisionoflabourisasystemofproductionwhichhasgrownupspontaneouslyandcontinuestogrowbehindthebacksoftheproducers。Thecommoditytobeexchangedmaypossiblybetheproductofsomenewkindoflabour，thatpretendstosatisfynewlyarisenrequirements，oreventogiveriseitselftonewrequirements。
Aparticularoperation，thoughyesterday，perhaps，formingoneoutofthemanyoperationsconductedbyoneproducerincreatingagivencommodity，mayto—dayseparateitselffromthisconnexion，mayestablishitselfasanindependentbranchoflabourandsenditsincompleteproducttomarketasanindependentcommodity。Thecircumstancesmayormaynotberipeforsuchaseparation。To—daytheproductsatisfiesasocialwant。Tomorrowthearticlemay，eitheraltogetherorpartially，besupersededbysomeotherappropriateproduct。Moreover，althoughourweaver’slabourmaybearecognisedbranchofthesocialdivisionoflabour，yetthatfactisbynomeanssufficienttoguaranteetheutilityofhis20yardsoflinen。
Ifthecommunity’swantoflinen，andsuchawanthasalimitlikeeveryotherwant，shouldalreadybesaturatedbytheproductsofrivalweavers。
ourfriend’sproductissuperfluous，redundant，andconsequentlyuseless。Althoughpeopledonotlookagift—horseinthemouth，ourfrienddoesnotfrequentthemarketforthepurposeofmakingpresents。Butsupposehisproductturnoutarealuse—value，andtherebyattractsmoney？Thequestionarises，howmuchwillitattract？Nodoubttheanswerisalreadyanticipatedinthepriceofthearticle，intheexponentofthemagnitudeofitsvalue。Weleaveoutofconsiderationhereanyaccidentalmiscalculationofvaluebyourfriend，amistakethatissoonrectifiedinthemarket。
Wesupposehimtohavespentonhisproductonlythatamountoflabour—timethatisonanaveragesociallynecessary。Thepricethen，ismerelythemoneynameofthequantityofsociallabourrealisedinhiscommodity。Butwithouttheleave，andbehindtheback，ofourweaver，theold—fashionedmodeofweavingundergoesachange。Thelabour—timethatyesterdaywaswithoutdoubtsociallynecessarytotheproductionofayardoflinen，ceasestobesoto—day，afactwhichtheownerofthemoneyisonlytooeagertoprovefromthepricesquotedbyourfriend’scompetitors。
Unluckilyforhim，weaversarenotfewandfarbetween。Lastly，supposethateverypieceoflineninthemarketcontainsnomorelabour—timethanissociallynecessary。Inspiteofthis，allthesepiecestakenasawhole，mayhavehadsuperfluouslabour—timespentuponthem。Ifthemarketcannotstomachthewholequantityatthenormalpriceof2shillingsayard，thisprovesthattoogreataportionofthetotallabourofthecommunityhasbeenexpendedintheformofweaving。Theeffectisthesameasifeachindividualweaverhadexpendedmorelabour—timeuponhisparticularproductthanissociallynecessary。Herewemaysay，withtheGermanproverb:caughttogether，hungtogether。Allthelineninthemarketcountsbutasonearticleofcommerce，ofwhicheachpieceisonlyanaliquotpart。Andasamatteroffact，thevaluealsoofeachsingleyardisbutthematerialisedformofthesamedefiniteandsociallyfixedquantityofhomogeneoushumanlabour。[17]
Weseethen，commoditiesareinlovewithmoney，but\"thecourseoftrueloveneverdidrunsmooth。\"Thequantitativedivisionoflabourisbroughtaboutinexactlythesamespontaneousandaccidentalmannerasitsqualitativedivision。Theownersofcommoditiesthereforefindout，thatthesamedivisionoflabourthatturnsthemintoindependentprivateproducers，alsofreesthesocialprocessofproductionandtherelationsoftheindividualproducerstoeachotherwithinthatprocess，fromalldependenceonthewillofthoseproducers，andthattheseemingmutualindependenceoftheindividualsissupplementedbyasystemofgeneralandmutualdependencethroughorbymeansoftheproducts。
Thedivisionoflabourconvertstheproductoflabourintoacommodity，andtherebymakesnecessaryitsfurtherconversionintomoney。Atthesametimeitalsomakestheaccomplishmentofthistransubstantiationquiteaccidental。Here，however，weareonlyconcernedwiththephenomenoninitsintegrity，andwethereforeassumeitsprogresstobenormal。Moreover，iftheconversiontakeplaceatall，thatis，ifthecommoditybenotabsolutelyunsaleable，itsmetamorphosisdoestakeplacealthoughthepricerealisedmaybeabnormallyaboveorbelowthevalue。
Thesellerhashiscommodityreplacedbygold，thebuyerhashisgoldreplacedbyacommodity。Thefactwhichherestaresusinthefaceis，thatacommodityandgold，20yardsoflinenand£2，havechangedhandsandplaces，inotherwords，thattheyhavebeenexchanged。Butforwhatisthecommodityexchanged？Fortheshapeassumedbyitsownvalue，fortheuniversalequivalent。Andforwhatisthegoldexchanged？Foraparticularformofitsownuse—value。Whydoesgoldtaketheformofmoneyfacetofacewiththelinen？Becausethelinen’spriceof£2，itsdenominationinmoney，hasalreadyequatedthelinentogoldinitscharacterofmoney。Acommoditystripsoffitsoriginalcommodity—formonbeingalienated，i。e。，ontheinstantitsuse—valueactuallyattractsthegold，thatbeforeexistedonlyideallyinitsprice。Therealisationofacommodity’sprice，orofitsidealvalue—form，isthereforeatthesametimetherealisationoftheidealuse—valueofmoney;theconversionofacommodityintomoney，isthesimultaneousconversionofmoneyintoacommodity。Theapparentlysingleprocessisinrealityadoubleone。Fromthepoleofthecommodity—owneritisasale，fromtheoppositepoleofthemoney—owner，itisapurchase。
Inotherwords，asaleisapurchase，C？MisalsoM？p;[18]
Uptothispointwehaveconsideredmeninonlyoneeconomiccapacity，thatofownersofcommodities，acapacityinwhichtheyappropriatetheproduceofthelabourofothers，byalienatingthatoftheirownlabour。
Hence，foronecommodity—ownertomeetwithanotherwhohasmoney，itisnecessary，either，thattheproductofthelabourofthelatterperson，thebuyer，shouldbeinitselfmoney，shouldbegold，thematerialofwhichmoneyconsists，orthathisproductshouldalreadyhavechangeditsskinandhavestrippedoffitsoriginalformofausefulobject。Inorderthatitmayplaythepartofmoney，goldmustofcourseenterthemarketatsomepointorother。Thispointistobefoundatthesourceofproductionofthemetal，atwhichplacegoldisbartered，astheimmediateproductoflabour，forsomeotherproductofequalvalue。Fromthatmomentitalwaysrepresentstherealisedpriceofsomecommodity。[19]Apartfromitsexchangeforothercommoditiesatthesourceofitsproduction，gold，inwhose—so—everhandsitmaybe，isthetransformedshapeofsomecommodityalienatedbyitsowner;itistheproductofasaleorofthefirstmetamorphosisC？M;[20]Gold，aswesaw，becameidealmoney，orameasureofvalues，inconsequenceofallcommoditiesmeasuringtheirvaluesbyit，andthuscontrastingitideallywiththeirnaturalshapeasusefulobjects，andmakingittheshapeoftheirvalue。Itbecamerealmoney，bythegeneralalienationofcommodities，byactuallychangingplaceswiththeirnaturalformsasusefulobjects，andthusbecominginrealitytheembodimentoftheirvalues。Whentheyassumethismoney—shape，commoditiesstripoffeverytraceoftheirnaturaluse—value，andoftheparticularkindoflabourtowhichtheyowetheircreation，inordertotransformthemselvesintotheuniform，sociallyrecognisedincarnationofhomogeneoushumanlabour。
Wecannottellfromthemerelookofapieceofmoney，forwhatparticularcommodityithasbeenexchanged。Undertheirmoney—formallcommoditieslookalike。Hence，moneymaybedirt，althoughdirtisnotmoney。Wewillassumethatthetwogoldpieces，inconsiderationofwhichourweaverhaspartedwithhislinen，arethemetamorphosedshapeofaquarterofwheat。