The Importance of Metals in Commerce

In old times things were frequently valued according to the number of cattle which had been given in exchange for them. Metals can not only be kept with as little loss as any other commodity, scarce anything being less perishable than they are; but they can likewise, without any loss, be divided into any number of parts. As by fusion those parts can easily be reunited again, a quality which no other equally durable commodities possess and which more than any other quality renders them fit to be the instruments of commerce and circulation.