国富价值(跟着亚当斯密学《国富论》，看看劳动与商品价值之间的关系)

Chapter V. Of the Real and Nominal Price of Commodities, or of Their Price in Labour, and Their Price in Money 第五章、论商品的真实价格与名义价格，或论用劳动表示的商品价格与用货币表示的商品价格

Every man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniencies, and amusements of human life. But after the division of labour has once thoroughly taken place, it is but a very small part of these with which a man's own labour can supply him. The far greater part of them he must derive from the labour of other people, and he must be rich or poor according to the quantity of that labour which he can command, or which he can afford to purchase. The value of any commodity, therefore, to the person who possesses it, and who means not to use or consume it himself, but to exchange it for other commodities, is equal to the quantity of labour which it enables him to purchase or command. Labour, therefore, is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities.

一个人是富有还是贫穷，要根据他所能享受得起的生活必需品、便利品和娱乐品的等级而定。但是一旦分工完全确立以后，一个人自己劳动只能供应上述所需物品极小的一部分，而大部分物品需要依靠他人劳动来获得。所以，一个人是富有还是贫穷，要看他能够支配多少劳动，即要看他能够购买多少他人的劳动。倘若一个人占有某种商品，但自己不想使用或消费，愿意拿来交换他物，那么对他说来，该商品的价值等于他能购买或能支配的劳动数量。因此，劳动是衡量一切商品交换价值的真实尺度。

The real price of every thing, what every thing really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it. What every thing is really worth to the man who has acquired it, and who wants to dispose of it or exchange it for something else, is the toil and trouble which it can save to himself, and which it can impose upon other people. What is bought with money, or with goods is purchased by labour, as much as what we acquire by the toil of our own body. That money or those goods indeed save us this toil. They contain the value of a certain quantity of labour which we exchange for what is supposed at the time to contain the value of an equal quantity. Labour was the first price, the original purchase-money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all the wealth of the world was originally purchased; and its value, to those who possess it, and who want to exchange it for some new productions, is precisely equal to the quantity of labour which it can enable them to purchase or command.

任何商品的真实价格，即人类想要得到它所需付出的实际代价，是为了获得它所需付出的辛苦和烦恼。而对于已经得到某件商品的人来说，倘若他想将商品卖掉，或是用来交换其他商品，那么他所拥有商品的真正价值，等于他能为自己节省的并转嫁到别人身上去的辛苦和烦恼。用货币购买到的，或是用货物交换得到的商品，都是用劳动购买的商品，就像我们用自己的劳动取得一样。这些货币或货物，使我们能够免除某些劳动。它们含有一定数量的劳动价值，我们能够用这些货币或货物交换其他当时被认为包含同等数量劳动价值的物品。劳动是第一性价格，即购买所有商品的最初价格。最初世间所有财富都是用劳动购买的，而不是用金银购买的。所以，对于占有财富并愿用财富交换新产品的人来说，财富的价值恰恰等于它使他们能够购买或支配的劳动数量。

Wealth, as Mr. Hobbes says, is power. But the person who either acquires, or succeeds to a great fortune, does not necessarily acquire or succeed to any political power, either civil or military. His fortune may, perhaps, afford him the means of acquiring both, but the mere possession of that fortune does not necessarily convey to him either. The power which that possession immediately and directly conveys to him, is the power of purchasing; a certain command over all the labour, or over all the produce of labour which is then in the market. His fortune is greater or less, precisely in proportion to the extent of this power; or to the quantity either of other men's labour, or, what is the same thing, of the produce of other men's labour, which it enables him to purchase or command. The exchangeable value of every thing must always be precisely equal to the extent of this power which it conveys to its owner.

托马斯·霍布斯曾说：财富就是权力。但获得或继承大量财产的人，未必就能获得或继承任何政治权力，无论是民政权力还是军政权力。他的财产，也许可以提供他一种获得民政或军政权力的手段，但仅仅拥有财产未必就能给他这些权力。财产直接给他的权力是购买力，即对当时市场上各种劳动或各种劳动产品的支配权。一个人财产的多少与这种支配权的大小精确地成比例，换句话说，一个人财产的多少与他所能购买或支配的他人劳动数量或他人劳动所得产品数量精确地成比例。一种商品的交换价值，一定精确地等于这种商品赋予其所有者的劳动支配权。

But though labour be the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities, it is not that by which their value is commonly estimated. It is often difficult to ascertain the proportion between two different quantities of labour. The time spent in two different sorts of work will not always alone determine this proportion. The different degrees of hardship endured, and of ingenuity exercised, must likewise be taken into account. There may be more labour in an hour's hard work than in two hours' easy business; or in an hour's application to a trade which it cost ten years' labour to learn, than in a month's industry at an ordinary and obvious employment. But it is not easy to find any accurate measure either of hardship or ingenuity. In exchanging, indeed, the different productions of different sorts of labour for one another, some allowance is commonly made for both. It is adjusted, however, not by any accurate measure, but by the higgling and bargaining of the market, according to that sort of rough equality which, though not exact, is sufficient for carrying on the business of common life.

虽然说劳动是一切商品交换价值的真实尺度，但一切商品的价值却通常不是用劳动来衡量的。确定两种不同劳动数量的比例往往很困难。仅仅依靠两种不同工作所需花费的时间，往往不能确定这一比例的大小。不同的困难程度和不同的技巧要求都要加以考虑。在一个小时内，与难度低的工作相比，难度高的工作需要更大的工作量；付出10年的劳动才能学会的工作，哪怕只做一小时，可能也比一个月的普通工作所包含的劳动数量大。但是，很难找到一个准确的尺度来衡量工作的难度和精巧度。诚然，在对不同劳动所生产的不同产品进行交换时，通常都会考虑到不同工作的难度和精巧度，但这不是按任何精确的尺度来作调整，而是通过市场上议价来作大体上两不相亏的调整。这样做虽然不是很准确，但对日常买卖也足够了。

Every commodity, besides, is more frequently exchanged for, and thereby compared with, other commodities than with labour. It is more natural, therefore, to estimate its exchangeable value by the quantity of some other commodity than by that of the labour which it can purchase. The greater part of people, too, understand better what is meant by a quantity of a particular commodity, than by a quantity of labour. The one is a plain palpable object; the other an abstract notion, which, though it can be made sufficiently intelligible, is not altogether so natural and obvious.

此外，人们频繁地用商品来交换商品，而不是交换劳动，从而使得商品只能和商品进行比较，而不是和劳动进行比较。因此，人们常常很自然地用其他商品的数量，而不是其他商品所包含的劳动数量来衡量某一商品的交换价值。而且，说到某一商品的数量，人们大都容易理解，说到某一劳动数量，人们就会感到糊涂。商品的数量看得见、摸得着，而劳动数量却是一个抽象的概念，虽然有办法让人们充分理解，但终究不是那么明显、那么自然。

But when barter ceases, and money has become the common instrument of commerce, every particular commodity is more frequently exchanged for money than for any other commodity. The butcher seldom carries his beef or his mutton to the baker, or the brewer, in order to exchange them for bread or for beer; but he carries them to the market, where he exchanges them for money, and afterwards exchanges that money for bread and for beer. The quantity of money which he gets for them regulates, too, the quantity of bread and beer which he can afterwards purchase. It is more natural and obvious to him, therefore, to estimate their value by the quantity of money, the commodity for which he immediately exchanges them, than by that of bread and beer, the commodities for which he can exchange them only by the intervention of another commodity; and rather to say that his butcher's meat is worth threepence or fourpence apound, than that it is worth three or four pounds of bread, or three or four quarts of small beer. Hence it comes to pass, that the exchangeable value of every commodity is more frequently estimated by the quantity of money, than by the quantity either of labour or of any other commodity which can be had in exchange for it.

但是，当物物交换停止、货币成为商业上的通用媒介时，商品就常常与货币交换，而不是和其他商品交换。屠夫如果需要面包或啤酒，不会把牛肉或羊肉直接拿到面包师或酿酒师那里去交换，而是先把牛肉或羊肉拿到市场上去换取货币，然后再用货币换取面包或啤酒。他售卖牛羊肉所得的货币数量，决定他后来所能购买的面包数量和啤酒数量。因此很显然，屠夫自然更多地用牛羊肉直接换来的货币数量来估算牛羊肉的价值，而不是用通过货币间接换来的面包和啤酒的数量来估算牛羊肉的价值。而且说每磅肉值3便士或4便士也比说每磅肉值3斤面包或4斤面包，或值3夸脱啤酒或4夸脱啤酒要合适得多。所以，一个商品的交换价值常常按照货币数量，而不是该商品所能换得的劳动数量或其他商品数量来计算。

Gold and silver, however, like every other commodity, vary in their value, are sometimes cheaper and sometimes dearer, sometimes of easier and sometimes of more difficult purchase. The quantity of labour which any particular quantity of them can purchase or command, or the quantity of other goods which it will exchange for, depends always upon the fertility or barrenness of the mines which happen to be known about the time when such exchanges are made. The discovery of the abundant mines of America reduced, in the sixteenth century, the value of gold and silver in Europe to about a third of what it had been before. As it cost less labour to bring those metals from the mine to the market, so when they were brought thither they could purchase or command less labour; and this revolution in their value, though perhaps the greatest, is by no means the only one of which history gives some account. But as a measure of quantity, such as the natural foot, fathom, or handful, which is continually varying in its own quantity, can never be an accurate measure of the quantity of other things; so a commodity which is itself continually varying in its own value, can never be an accurate measure of the value of other commodities. Equal quantities of labour, at all times and places, may be said to be of equal value to the labourer. In his ordinary state of health, strength and spirits; in the ordinary degree of his skill and dexterity, he must always lay down the same portion of his ease, his liberty, and his happiness. The price which he pays must always be the same, whatever may be the quantity of goods which he receives in return for it. Of these, indeed, it may sometimes purchase a greater and sometimes a smaller quantity; but it is their value which varies, not that of the labour which purchases them. At all times and places that is dear which it is difficult to come at, or which it costs much labour to acquire; and that cheap which is to be had easily, or with very little labour. Labour alone, therefore, never varying in its own value, is alone the ultimate and real standard by which the value of all commodities can at all times and places be estimated and compared. It is their real price; money is their nominal price only.

但是，金银就像其他商品一样，价值时高时低，购买也时难时易。一定数量的金银所能购买或支配的劳动数量或所能交换的其他商品的数量，往往取决于交换行为发生时已发现的金银矿山出产量的大小。16世纪美洲富饶的金银矿山的发现，使欧洲金银的价值几乎降低为原价的1/3。由于将这些金属从矿山开采出来并运送到市场上所需的劳动力减少了，因此在市场上金银所能购买或所能支配的劳动也相应减少。这也许是金银价值最大的一次波动，但绝不是历史上唯一的一次波动。但是我们知道，本身数量不断变动的尺度，如一步的长度、伸开双臂的宽度或一手所握物品数量，绝不能作为衡量其他物品数量的精确尺度；同样，自身价值不断变动的商品也绝不是衡量其他商品价值的精确尺度。但是，劳动却当别论。一定数量的劳动，无论何时何地，对于劳动者来说都具有同等的价值。假使一个劳动者的健康、体力和精神处于正常状态，劳动技巧和熟练程度也处于平均水平，那么在劳动时，他就必然牺牲和其他人同等数量的安乐、自由与幸福。他所购买的商品不论多少，总是等于他所付出的代价。诚然，他的劳动购买的商品数量，虽然有时多，有时少，但这是商品价值的变动，不是购买商品的劳动价值变动。不论何时何地，凡是难以购得的商品，或是获取时需付出大量劳动的商品，价格必然昂贵。凡是容易购得的商品，或是获取时只需付出少量劳动的商品，价格必然低廉。所以，只有本身价值绝不变动的劳动，才是随时随地可以用来估量和比较各种商品价值的最终和真实标准。劳动是商品的真实价格，货币只是商品的名义价格。

But though equal quantities of labour are always of equal value to the labourer, yet to the person who employs him they appear sometimes to be of greater and sometimes of smaller value. He purchases them sometimes with a greater and sometimes with a smaller quantity of goods, and to him the price of labour seems to vary like that of all other things. It appears to him dear in the one case, and cheap in the other. In reality, however, it is the goods which are cheap in the one case, and dear in the other.

但是，虽然对于劳动者，等量劳动具有等量价值，但在雇佣劳动者的人看来，劳动的价值却时高时低。雇主购买劳动，有时需用多量的货物，有时只需用少量的货物。因此在他看来，劳动价格似乎与其他一切物品一样，常常是变化的。以多量货物购得的劳动价格昂贵，以少量货物购得的劳动价格低廉。但事实是，在这两种情况下，价格时而昂贵时而低廉的是货物，不是劳动。

In this popular sense, therefore, labour, like commodities, may be said to have a real and a nominal price. Its real price may be said to consist in the quantity of the necessaries and conveniencies of life which are given for it; its nominal price, in the quantity of money. The labourer is rich or poor, is well or ill rewarded, in proportion to the real, not to the nominal price of his labour.

按照大众的说法，劳动也像其他商品一样可以说有真实价格与名义价格。所谓真实价格，就是劳动所创造的生活必需品和便利品的数量。所谓名义价格，就是劳动所能交换的一定数量的货币。劳动者是贫是富，劳动所获得的报酬是多是少，不是与其劳动的名义价格成比例，而是与其劳动的真实价格成比例。

The distinction between the real and the nominal price of commodities and labour, is not a matter of mere speculation, but may sometimes be of considerable use in practice. The same real price is always of the same value; but on account of the variations in the value of gold and silver, the same nominal price is sometimes of very different values. When a landed estate, therefore, is sold with a reservation of a perpetual rent, if it is intended that this rent should always be of the same value, it is of importance to the family in whose favour it is reserved, that it should not consist in a particular sum of money. Its value would in this case be liable to variations of two different kinds; first, to those which arise from the different quantities of gold and silver which are contained at different times in coin of the same denomination; and, secondly, to those which arise from the different values of equal quantities of gold and silver at different times.

商品与劳动的真实价格与名义价格存在区别，这不仅仅是纯理论问题，有时在实践上也有大的用处。真实价格相同的商品，价值往往相同；名义价格相同的商品，其价值却往往因金银的价值变动而产生极大的差异。因此，如果一个人要以永久租佃为条件而售卖地产，假设他要使地租的价值永远不变，就不能把地租定为一定数量的货币，因为一定数量的货币的价值很可能因两种因素而发生变动：第一，由于同一名称铸币在不同时代所含金银分量不同而产生变动；第二，由于同一分量金银在不同时代具有不同价值而产生变动。

Princes and sovereign states have frequently fancied that they had a temporary interest to diminish the quantity of pure metal contained in their coins; but they seldom have fancied that they had any to augment it. The quantity of metal contained in the coins, I believe of all nations, has, accordingly, been almost continually diminishing, and hardly ever augmenting. Such variations, therefore, tend almost always to diminish the value of a money rent.

君主和主权国家往往认为，减少铸币内纯金属的含量能让他们获得短期利益。但他们很少认为，增加铸币内纯金属的含量对自己有利。我相信，无论在哪个国家，铸币内纯金属的含量都在不断减少，而从未增加。因此，这种变动常使货币地租的价值降低。

The discovery of the mines of America diminished the value of gold and silver in Europe. This diminution, it is commonly supposed, though I apprehend without any certain proof, is still going on gradually, and is likely to continue to do so for a long time. Upon this supposition, therefore, such variations are more likely to diminish; than to augment the value of a money rent, even though it should be stipulated to be paid, not in such a quantity of coined money of such a denomination (in so many pounds sterling, for example), but in so many ounceseither of pure silver, or of silver of a certain standard.

美洲矿山发现之后，欧洲金银得到贬值。人们普遍认为，金银的价值还会逐渐下降，而且在很长一段时间内很可能继续下降（不过我认为这种说法没有切实的依据）。所以，按照这种逻辑，就算地租不规定为若干镑铸币，而规定为纯银或某种成色的若干盎司白银，这种变动多半会降低而不是增加货币地租的价值。

The rents which have been reserved in corn have preserved their value much better than those which have been reserved in money, even where the denomination of the coin has not been altered. By the 18th of Elizabeth it was enacted that a third of the rent of all college leases should be reserved in corn, to be paid, either in kind, or according to the current prices at the nearest public market. The money arising from this corn rent, though originally but a third of the whole, is in the present times, according to Dr. Blackstone, commonly near double of what arises from the other two-thirds. The old money rents of colleges must, according to this account, have sunk almost to a fourth part of their ancient value; or are worth little more than a fourth part of the corn which they were formerly worth. But since the reign of Philip and Mary the denomination of the English coin has undergone little or no alteration, and the same number of pounds, shillings and pence have contained very nearly the same quantity of pure silver. This degradation, therefore, in the value of the money rents of colleges, has arisen altogether from the degradation in the value of silver.

谷物地租比货币地租更能保持地租的价值，即使在铸币价值没有发生变化的地方也是如此。伊丽莎白第十八年颁布的法律规定，国内各学院的地租的1/3要用谷物进行支付，要么以货代款，要么按照当时最近市场上的谷价折合成货币支付。由谷物折合货币的部分，原本只占全部地租的1/3，但到现在，按照布莱克斯通博士的计算，却已接近剩余2/3地租的两倍。依此算来，各学院当初的货币地租，一定已经几乎减到原来价值的1/4，或者说不超过其原来所值谷物的1/4了。但是，自菲利普和玛丽统治时期起，英格兰铸币的面额很少变动，或几乎没有变动。同一数量的镑、先令或便士中纯银的含量几乎相同。由此可见，各学院货币地租价值的下降完全是白银的价值下降的结果。

When the degradation in the value of silver is combined with the diminution of the quantity of it contained in the coin of the same denomination, the loss is frequently still greater. In Scotland, where the denomination of the coin has undergone much greater alterations than it ever did in England, and in France, where it has undergone still greater than it ever did in Scotland, some ancient rents, originally of considerable value, have in this manner been reduced almost to nothing.

倘若白银的价值下降，同一面额的铸币内纯银的含量又同时减少，那么货币地租的损失就会更大。在苏格兰，铸币面额所发生的变化比英格兰大得多，而法国铸币面额所发生的变化又比苏格兰大得多。所以，一些古老的地租，原来曾有很高的价值，现在却几乎一文不值。

Equal quantities of labour will at distant times be purchased more nearly with equal quantities of corn, the subsistence of the labourer, than with equal quantities of gold and silver, or perhaps of any other commodity. Equal quantities of corn, therefore, will, at distant times, be more nearly of the same real value, or enable the possessor to purchase or command more nearly the same quantity of the labour of other people. They will do this, I say, more nearly than equal quantities of almost any other commodity; for even equal quantities of corn will not do it exactly. The subsistence of the labourer, or the real price of labour, as I shall endeavour to show hereafter, is very different upon different occasions; more liberal in a society advancing to opulence, than in one that is standing still; and in one that is standing still, than in one that is going backwards. Every other commodity, however, will at any particular time purchase a greater or smaller quantity of labour in proportion to the quantity of subsistence which it can purchase at that time. A rent therefore reserved in corn is liable only to the variations in the quantity of labour which a certain quantity of corn can purchase. But a rent reserved in any other commodity is liable, not only to the variations in the quantity of labour which any particular quantity of corn can purchase, but to the variations in the quantity of corn which can be purchased by any particular quantity of that commodity.

在相隔很久的时间里，若要购买等量的劳动，人们所需的谷物（劳动者的生产资料）数量几乎相同。但若以金银或其他商品去购买，那么数量则会发生很大变化。所以，在相隔很久的一段时间里，等量的谷物更可能保持几乎相同的真实价值，换句话说，谷物持有者更可能以等量谷物购买或支配他人几乎等量的劳动。我只说，等量谷物和等量其他商品相比，更可能购买或支配等量劳动，因为即使是等量谷物在相隔很久的时间里也不可能购买或支配绝对相等数量的劳动。劳动者的生活资料，即劳动的真实价格，在不同时期有着很大的不同，后面我会进行阐述。劳动者所享有的生活资料，在走向富裕的社会比在停滞不前的社会要多一些，在停滞不前的社会又比在走向衰落的社会要多一些。然而其他任何商品，在任何时间，无论所能购买的劳动数量是多是少，总是和在那段时间里该商品所能购买的生活资料的数量成比例。所以，谷物地租只会随着一定数量的谷物所能购买的劳动数量的变动而变化。但以其他任何商品计算的地租，不但要受一定数量的谷物所能购买的劳动数量变动的影响，同时还要受一定数量的此种商品所能购买的谷物数量变动的影响。

Though the real value of a corn rent, it is to be observed, however, varies much less from century to century than that of a money rent, it varies much more from year to year. The money price of labour, as I shall endeavour to show hereafter, does not fluctuate from year to year with the money price of corn, but seems to be everywhere accommodated, not to the temporary or occasional, but to the average or ordinary price of that necessary of life. The average or ordinary price of corn again is regulated, as I shall likewise endeavour to show hereafter, by the value of silver, by the richness or barrenness of the mines which supply the market with that metal, or by the quantity of labour which must be employed, and consequently of corn which must be consumed, in order to bring any particular quantity of silver from the mine to the market. But the value of silver, though it sometimes varies greatly from century to century, seldom varies much from year to year, but frequently continues the same, or very nearly the same, for half a century or a century together. The ordinary or average money price of corn, therefore, may, during so long a period, continue the same or very nearly the same too, and along with it the money price of labour, provided, at least, the society continues, in other respects, in the same or nearly in the same condition. In the meantime the temporary and occasional price of corn may frequently be double, one year, of what it had been the year before, or fluctuate, for example, from fiveandtwenty to fifty shillings the quarter. But when corn is at the latter price, not only the nominal, but the real value of a corn rent will be double of what it is when at the former, or will command double the quantity either of labour or of the greater part of other commodities; the money price of labour, and along with it that of most other things, continuing the same during all these fluctuations.

我们要留心的一点是，虽然在一个世纪的跨度里，谷物地租真实价值的变动比货币地租真实价值的变动少得多，但仅就一年的跨度来说，谷物地租真实价值的变动却比货币地租真实价值的变动多得多。正如我在后面所要阐述的，劳动的货币价格，似乎并不随着每一年谷物货币价格的变动而变动。它似乎从不和谷物的暂时或偶然价格相适应，而是和这一生活必需品的平均或普通价格相适应。正如我在后面的章节将要说明的那样，谷物的平均价格或普通价格要受到白银的价值的支配，受到为市场供应白银的银矿山出产额大小的支配，受到将白银从矿区运到市场所需投入的劳动数量的支配，因而也受到在运送过程中劳动力所需消费的谷物数量的支配。在一个世纪的跨度内，虽然白银的价值有时会有大的变动，但就一年的跨度来说，白银的价值却很少有很大变动，在50年或100年内，价值往往保持不变或几乎保持不变。因此，同样50年或100年内，谷物的平均或普通货币价格也可能保持不变或几乎不变。那么只要社会在其他方面保持不变或几乎不变，那劳动的货币价格也将保持不变或几乎不变。不过，在这段时间里，谷物的暂时或偶然价格却常常在今年比去年高一倍，或发生波动，比如今年每夸特25先令，明年涨至50先令。但是，当谷物涨至每夸特50先令时，不仅谷物地租的名义价值上升，而且其真实价值也比以前高一倍，或者说等量谷物地租所支配的劳动数量或购买的其他商品数量比以前大一倍，但在这些变动中，劳动和大多数其他商品的货币价格均保持不变。

Labour, therefore, it appears evidently, is the only universal, as well as the only accurate measure of value, or the only standard by which we can compare the values of different commodities at all times and at all places. We cannot estimate, it is allowed, the real value of different commodities from century to century by the quantities of silver which were given for them. We cannot estimate it from year to year by the quantities of corn. By the quantities of labour we can, with the greatest accuracy, estimate it both from century to century and from year to year. From century to century, corn is a better measure than silver, because, from century to century, equal quantities of corn will command the same quantity of labour more nearly than equal quantities of silver. From year to year, on the contrary, silver is a better measure than corn, because equal quantities of it will more nearly command the same quantity of labour.

由此可明显看出，只有劳动才是衡量价值唯一普遍和精确的尺度，换句话说，劳动是我们能够在任何时代和任何地方比较各种商品的价值的唯一标准。就一个世纪的跨度来说，我们不能用一种购买商品所需的白银数量来估定这商品的真实价值；就一年的跨度来说，我们不能换取一种商品所需的谷物数量来估定商品的真实价值。但无论在一年的跨度里还是在一个世纪的跨度里，我们都用一种商品所能换得的劳动数量，来精确地估定该商品的真实价值。就一个世纪的跨度来说，谷物比白银更适合作为衡量价值的尺度，因为这么长的时间里，等量谷物比等量白银更可能支配等量的劳动。反之，在一年的跨度里，以白银作为衡量价值的尺度又比谷物要更合适，因为在一年的时间里，等量的白银比等量谷物更可能支配等量劳动。

But though in establishing perpetual rents, or even in letting very long leases, it may be of use to distinguish between real and nominal price; it is of none in buying and selling, the more common and ordinary transactions of human life.

但是，虽然区分真实价格与名义价格对制定永久地租或缔结长期租约或许有用，但对日常生活中的普通买卖却毫无用处。

At the same time and place the real and the nominal price of all commodities are exactly in proportion to one another. The more or less money you get for any commodity, in the London market, for example, the more or less labour it will at that time and place enable you to purchase or command. At the same time and place, therefore, money is the exact measure of the real exchangeable value of all commodities. It is so, however, at the same time and place only.

在同一时间和地点，一切商品的真实价格与名义价格都保持着精确的比例。例如，在伦敦市场上，无论你售卖哪种商品，你得到的货币越多，那么在那个时间，你能购买或支配的劳动数量就越多，你得到的货币越少，你能购买或支配的劳动数量就越少。所以，在同一时间和地点，货币是一切商品的真实交换价值的精确尺度。但是同一时间和同一地点才是如此。

Though at distant places, there is no regular proportion between the real and the money price of commodities, yet the merchant who carries goods from the one to the other has nothing to consider but their money price, or the difference between the quantity of silver for which he buys them, and that for which he is likely to sell them. Half an ounce of silver at Canton in China may command a greater quantity both of labour and of the necessaries and conveniencies of life, than an ounce at London. A commodity, therefore, which sells for half an ounce of silver at Canton may there be really dearer, of more real importance to the man who possesses it there, than a commodity which sells for an ounce at London is to the man who possesses it at London. If a London merchant, however, can buy at Canton for half an ounce of silver, a commodity which he can afterwards sell at London for an ounce, he gains a hundred per cent by the bargain, just as much as if an ounce of silver was at London exactly of the same value as at Canton. It is of no importance to him that half an ounce of silver at Canton would have given him the command of more labour and of a greater quantity of the necessaries and conveniencies of life than an ounce can do at London. An ounce at London will always give him the command of double the quantity of all these, which half an ounce could have done there, and this is precisely what he wants.

尽管在相隔很远的两个地方，商品的真实价格与货币价格间没有固定的比例，但往来两地售卖货物的商人却只考虑商品的货币价格，或者说他只考虑购买商品所用的白银数量和售卖商品可换得的白银数量之间的差额。在中国广州，半盎司白银所能支配的劳动数量或生活必需品和便利品数量，比伦敦一盎司白银所能支配的也许还要大。所以，在广州以半盎司出售的商品，对于广州该商品持有者而言更重要、更贵重，而相比之下，在伦敦以一盎司出售的商品对于伦敦该商品持有者而言，反倒不及广州半盎司的商品那么贵重和重要。不过，如果伦敦商人能在广州以半盎司白银购买某一商品，随后在伦敦以一盎司白银的价格售卖，那么在这趟买卖中他就获得了百分百的利益。通过这样的交易，一盎司白银的价值在广州和伦敦好像完全一样了。至于广州半盎司白银比伦敦一盎司白银能够支配更多劳动或购买更多生活必需品和便利品，对这个商人来说是无关紧要的。他真正关心的是，在伦敦，一盎司白银使他能够支配的劳动数量和生活必需品与便利品数量，总是半盎司白银的两倍。

As it is the nominal or money price of goods, therefore, which finally determines the prudence or imprudence of all purchases and sales, and thereby regulates almost the whole business of common life in which price is concerned, we cannot wonder that it should have been so much more attended to than the real price.

因此，最终决定一切买卖行为得当与否的是商品的名义价格或货币价格，而日常生活中几乎所有涉及价格的业务也都受商品名义价格或货币价格支配，所以，人们更多关注商品名义价格而非真实价格，也就不足为奇了。

In such a work as this, however, it may sometimes be of use to compare the different real values of a particular commodity at different times and places, or the different degrees of power over the labour of other people which it may, upon different occasions, have given to those who possessed it. We must in this case compare, not so much the different quantities of silver for which it was commonly sold, as the different quantities of labour which those different quantities of silver could have purchased. But the current prices of labour at distant times and places can scarce ever be known with any degree of exactness. Those of corn, though they have in few places been regularly recorded, are in general better known and have been more frequently taken notice of by historians and other writers. We must generally, therefore, content ourselves with them, not as being always exactly in the same proportion as the current prices of labour, but as being the nearest approximation which can commonly be had to that proportion. I shall hereafter have occasion to make several comparisons of this kind.

但是笔者认为在本书中，有时仍然有必要比较某种商品在不同时间和不同地点的不同真实价值，换句话说，比较某种商品在不同时期能够提供给其所有者支配他人劳动的能力大小。在这种情况下，我们所要比较的，与其说是出售某种商品通常可得的不同白银数量，不如说是不同白银数量所能购买的劳动数量的不同。但是，如果时间或距离相隔甚远，那么我们常常难以准确了解劳动在某一时间某一地点的价钱如何。谷物的价格，虽然很少有地方正式记录，但人们一般知道得比较清楚，历史学家和其他作家们也常常更加注意谷物的价格。所以，我们常常用谷物价格来作比较，但并不是因为谷物价格和劳动价格总是保持固定的比例，而是因为二者之间的比例总是大致相同。我在后面还要作几次这种比较。

In the progress of industry, commercial nations have found it convenient to coin several different metals into money; gold for larger payments, silver for purchases of moderate value, and copper, or some other coarse metal, for those of still smaller consideration. They have always, however, considered one of those metals as more peculiarly the measure of value than any of the other two; and this preference seems generally to have been given to the metal which they happened first to make use of as the instrument of commerce. Having once begun to use it as their standard, which they must have done when they had no other money, they have generally continued to do so even when the necessity was not the same.

随着产业的进步，商业国发现将不同金属铸成货币使用起来更加方便：大额交易用黄金，中等价值的交易用白银，小额交易用铜或其他贱金属。人们往往认为，在这三种金属中，有一种比另外两种更加适合作为价值尺度。而他们所选择的，似乎都是最先用作商业媒介的金属。当人们没有其他货币可用时，就已把它用作本位，因此即使后来可供使用的货币种类增加，人们仍然继续使用这种金属作为价值尺度。

The Romans are said to have had nothing but copper money till within five years before the first Punic war, when they first began to coin silver. Copper, therefore, appears to have continued always the measure of value in that republic. At Rome all accounts appear to have been kept, and the value of all estates to have been computed, either in Asses or in Sestertii. The As was always the denomination of a copper coin. The word Sestertius signifies two Asses and a half. Though the Sestertius, therefore, was originally a silver coin, its value was estimated in copper. At Rome, one who owed a great deal of money, was said to have a great deal of other people's copper.

据说，在第一次迦太基战争之前的五年间，罗马人才开始铸造白银。在这之前，罗马只有铜币。所以，罗马共和国似乎一直以铜币作为价值尺度。罗马所有的账簿，所有的财产价值，都以若干阿斯或若干赛斯特斯计算。阿斯是一种铜币名称。而赛斯特斯表示2.5阿斯，所以虽然最初赛斯特斯是一种白银，但其价值常常以铜币计算。所以在罗马，如果一个人欠别人很多钱，人们常常说他借了别人很多铜。

The northern nations who established themselves upon the ruins of the Roman Empire, seem to have had silver money from the first beginning of their settlements, and not to have known either gold or copper coins for several ages thereafter. There were silver coins in England in the time of the Saxons; but there was little gold coined till the time of Edward III. nor any copper till that of James I. of Great Britain. In England, therefore, and for the same reason, I believe, in all other modern nations of Europe, all accounts are kept, and the value of all goods and of all estates is generally computed in silver: and when we mean to express the amount of a person's fortune, we seldom mention the number of guineas, but the number of pounds sterling which we suppose would be given for it.

在罗马帝国废墟上建立起来的北方各国，似乎定居之初就使用白银，在此后的若干年代，人们并不知道黄金和铜币的存在。撒克逊时期的英格兰只有白银，直到爱德华三世时代才出现少许黄金，在詹姆斯一世以后，才有铜币。所以，在英格兰，一切簿账以及一切货物与财产的价值都用白银计算。我相信在所有现代欧洲国家，由于同样的原因，也是用白银来计算一切商品的价值。当我们想要说明一个人的财产数量时，我们不说它值多少几尼，而说它值多少英镑。

Originally, in all countries, I believe, a legal tender of payment could be made only in the coin of that metal, which was peculiarly considered as the standard or measure of value. In England, gold was not considered as a legal tender for a long time after it was coined into money. The proportion between the values of gold and silver money was not fixed by any public law or proclamation; but was left to be settled by the market. If a debtor offered payment in gold, the creditor might either reject such payment altogether, or accept of it at such a valuation of the gold as he and his debtor could agree upon. Copper is not at present a legal tender except in the change of the smaller silver coins. In this state of things the distinction between the metal which was the standard, and that which was not the standard, was something more than a nominal distinction.

我相信最初在所有国家，只有被看作价值标准或尺度的特定的金属铸币才是可以用来支付的法定货币。在英格兰，黄金在铸币后很久还没能成为法定货币。黄金和白银价值的比例，不靠法律或公告规定，而是完全取决于市场。所以，如果一个债务人想用黄金还债，债权人可以拒绝，或者按照双方同意的黄金的价值来计算债务。铜在今天，除了可以用作小额白银的零钱外，已经不是法定货币了。所以，在这种情况下，本位金属与非本位金属的区别，已不仅仅是名义上的区别了。

In process of time, and as people became gradually more familiar with the use of the different metals in coin, and consequently better acquainted with the proportion between their respective values, it has in most countries, I believe, been found convenient to ascertain this proportion, and to declare by a public law that a guinea, for example, of such a weight and fineness, should exchange for one-and-twenty shillings, or be a legal tender for a debt of that amount. In this state of things, and during the continuance of any one regulated proportion of this kind, the distinction between the metal which is the standard, and that which is not the standard, becomes little more than a nominal distinction.

随着时间的推移，人们逐渐习惯同时使用不同金属的铸币，因而比以往更熟悉各种铸币价值的比例。我相信此时，大多数国家都发现把这一比例确定下来能给他们带来更多的便利，于是颁布法律规定，比如说有怎样纯度和重量的几尼，应该兑换21先令，或者说21先令的债款，可以用几尼作为法定货币偿付。在这种情况下，在法定比例继续有效期间内，本位金属与非本位金属的区别，基本只是名义上的区别了。

In consequence of any change, however, in this regulated proportion, this distinction becomes, or at least seems to become, something more than nominal again. If the regulated value of a guinea, for example, was either reduced to twenty, or raised to two-and-twenty shillings, all accounts being kept and almost all obligations for debt being expressed in silver money, the greater part of payments could in either case be made with the same quantity of silver money as before; but would require very different quantities of gold money; a greater in the one case, and a smaller in the other. Silver would appear to be more invariable in its value than gold. Silver would appear to measure the value of gold, and gold would not appear to measure the value of silver. The value of gold would seem to depend upon the quantity of silver which it would exchange for; and the value of silver would not seem to depend upon the quantity of gold which it would exchange for. This difference, however, would be altogether owing to the custom of keeping accounts, and of expressing the amount of all great and small sums rather in silver than in gold money. One of Mr. Drummond's notes for five-and-twenty or fifty guineas would, after an alteration of this kind, be still payable with five-and-twenty or fifty guineas in the same manner as before. It would, after such an alteration, be payable with the same quantity of gold as before, but with very different quantities of silver. In the payment of such a note, gold would appear to be more invariable in its value than silver. Gold would appear to measure the value of silver, and silver would not appear to measure the value of gold. If the custom of keeping accounts, and of expressing promissorynotes and other obligations for money in this manner, should ever become general, gold, and not silver, would be considered as the metal which was peculiarly the standard or measure of value.

不过，当法定比例发生变动时，本位金属与非本位金属的区别又不只是或者至少似乎不只是名义上的区别了。例如，如果黄金1几尼的法定价值发生变化，如降至20先令，或升至22先令，那么一切以白银计算的账目和大部分债务，依然可以和以前一样，用同等数量的白银支付。但是，倘若用黄金支付，那么在黄金的数量上就会有很大的差别。在1几尼低于20先令时，所需黄金多一些，在1几尼高于21先令时，所需黄金少一些。在这种情况下，白银的价值似乎比黄金的价值更稳定、更不易变动。这时，白银似乎能够衡量黄金的价值，但黄金却不能衡量白银的价值。黄金的价值，似乎取决于黄金所能交换的白银的数量，而白银的价值，似乎并不取决于白银所能交换的黄金的数量。但这种差异，全都是人们记账的习惯导致的，即无论大小数额，都用白银而不是黄金计算。例如，一张面值25几尼或50几尼的德拉蒙期票，在法定比例发生变动以后，仍旧可以像之前那样用同等数额的黄金偿还。但是，如果用白银支付，那么所需白银的数量随着法定比例的变动则会有很大的不同。在兑换这种期票时，黄金的价值比白银的价值更恒定。这时，又好像可以用黄金衡量白银的价值，而不能用白银衡量黄金的价值了。所以，如果人们在记账时，或者契约、债券上的数额全部用黄金来表示，那么黄金就会被看作价值标准或价值尺度的金属，而不是白银。

In reality, during the continuance of any one regulated proportion between the respective values of the different metals in coin, the value of the most precious metal regulates the value of the whole coin. Twelve copper pence contain half a pound, avoirdupois, of copper, of not the best quality, which, before it is coined, is seldom worth sevenpence in silver. But as by the regulation twelve such pence are ordered to exchange for a shilling, they are in the market considered as worth a shilling, and a shilling can at any time be had for them. Even before the late reformation of the gold coin of Great Britain, the gold, that part of it at least which circulated in London and its neighbourhood, was in general less degraded below its standard weight than the greater part of the silver. One-and-twenty worn and defaced shillings, however, were considered as equivalent to a guinea, which perhaps, indeed, was worn and defaced too, but seldom so much so. The late regulations have brought the gold coin as near perhaps to its standard weight as it is possible to bring the current coin of any nation; and the order, to receive no gold at the public offices but by weight, is likely to preserve it so, as long as that order is enforced. The silver coin still continues in the same worn and degraded state as before the reformation of the gold coin. In the market, however, one-and-twenty shillings of this degraded silver coin are still considered as worth a guinea of this excellent gold coin.

事实上，不同金属铸币的不同价值间，无论保持何种法定比例，只要在该比例有效的时间内，最昂贵的金属的价值总是支配着一切铸币的价值。例如，12枚铜便士，以常衡（16盎司为1磅）计，含0.5磅的铜。但这半磅铜的质量不是很好，因此在铸成铜币以前可能不值7个白银便士。但是，由于法律规定，12枚铜便士可以兑换1先令，于是在市场上这些铜便士便被认为值1先令，并可随时换成1先令。甚至在大不列颠最近一次金币改革以前，黄金，至少在伦敦及其附近流通的黄金，同大部分白银相比，一般很少跌落到其标准重量以下。然而，磨损的白银21先令仍被认为等值于1几尼的黄金，而几尼尽管也有磨损，却不像白银那样严重。最近出台的法律或许使黄金也像别的国家的通用铸币那样尽量接近于标准重量。英格兰规定所有公务部门只按重量接受黄金，只要这一命令继续执行下去，就可能使黄金的标准重量保持不变。白银目前仍像金币改革以前那样，处于磨损剥蚀的状态。但是在市场上，磨损了的白银21先令，仍被认为等值于1几尼优良的黄金。

The reformation of the gold coin has evidently raised the value of the silver coin which can be exchanged for it.

黄金的这次改革显然抬高了能和黄金兑换的白银的价值。

In the English mint a pound weight of gold is coined into forty-four guineas and a half, which, at one-and-twenty shillings the guinea, is equal to forty-six pounds fourteen shillings and sixpence. An ounce of such gold coin, therefore, is worth 3l. 17s. 10 ½d. in silver. In England no duty or seignorage is paid upon the coinage, and he who carries a pound weight or an ounce weight of standard gold bullion to the mint, gets back a pound weight or an ounce weight of gold in coin, without any deduction. Three pounds seventeen shillings and tenpence halfpenny an ounce, therefore, is said to be the mint price of gold in England, or the quantity of gold coin which the mint gives in return for standard gold bullion.

在英格兰造币厂，1磅重的黄金可以铸成44.5几尼，按1几尼为21先令计算，就等于46镑14先令6便士。所以，1盎司重的黄金，等于3镑17先令10.5便士白银。英格兰不征收铸币税，将一磅重或一盎司重的标准金块送往造币厂，可取回一磅重或一盎司重的铸币，重量不会有丝毫减少。所以，每盎司3镑17先令10.5便士，就成为英格兰黄金的造币厂价格，也就是造币厂交换标准金块所付给的黄金数量。

Before the reformation of the gold coin, the price of standard gold bullion in the market had for many years been upwards of 3l. 18s. sometimes 3l. 19s. and very frequently4l. an ounce; that sum, it is probable, in the worn and degraded gold coin, seldom containing more than an ounce of standard gold. Since the reformation of the gold coin, the market price of standard gold bullion seldom exceeds 3l. 17s. 7d. an ounce. Before the reformation of the gold coin, the market price was always more or less above the mint price. Since that reformation, the market price has been constantly below the mint price. But that market price is the same whether it is paid in gold or in silver coin. The late reformation of the gold coin, therefore, has raised not only the value of the gold coin, but likewise that of the silver coin in proportion to gold bullion, and probably, too, in proportion to all other commodities; though the price of the greater part of other commodities being influenced by so many other causes, the rise in the value either of gold or silver coin in proportion to them, may not be so distinct and sensible.

在金币改革前，市场上标准金块的价格，好多年都在每盎司3镑18先令以上，有时是每盎司3镑19先令，更多的时候是每盎司4镑。但在当时磨损的4镑的金币里，很少包含一盎司以上的标准黄金。金币改革以后，每盎司标准金块的市场价格很少超过3镑17先令7便士。改革前，其市场价格总是或多或少地超过造币厂的价格。改革后，市场价格一直低于造币厂的价格。但不论是以金币还是以银币支付，这一市场价格总是一样的。所以，最近金币的改革，不仅提高了金币的价值，而且也提高了银币和金块乃至和一切其他商品对比的价值。但是，因为大部分其他商品的价格，还受许多其他因素的影响，所以和这些商品相比，金币或银币的价值上升得不像它们那么显著。

In the English mint a pound weight of standard silver bullion is coined into sixty-two shillings, containing, in the same manner, a pound weight of standard silver. Five shillings and twopence an ounce, therefore, is said to be the mint price of silver in England, or the quantity of silver coin which the mint gives in return for standard silver bullion. Before the reformation of the gold coin, the market price of standard silver bullion was, upon different occasions, five shillings and fourpence, five shillings and fivepence, five shillings and sixpence, five shillings and sevenpence, and very often five shillings and eightpence an ounce. Five shillings and sevenpence, however, seems to have been the most common price. Since the reformation of the gold coin, the market price of standard silver bullion has fallen occasionally to five shillings and threepence, five shillings and fourpence, and five shillings and fivepence an ounce, which last price it has scarce ever exceeded. Though the market price of silver bullion has fallen considerably since the reformation of the gold coin, it has not fallen so low as the mint price.

在英格兰造币厂，1磅标准银块可铸成62先令，同样包含1磅重的标准白银。所以，1盎司合5先令2便士就是英格兰白银的造币厂价格，也就是造币厂交换标准银块所支付的银币数量。在金币改革以前，1盎司标准银块的市场价格时而是5先令4便士，时而是5先令5便士，时而是5先令6便士，时而是5先令7便士，时而是5先令8便士。不过，多数情况下是5先令7便士。金币改革以后，1盎司标准银块的市场价格降到5先令3便士，5先令4便士或5先令5便士，很少超过5先令5便士。但是，银块的市场价格，虽因金币改革而减低了许多，但始终没有降到像造币厂那么低的价格。

In the proportion between the different metals in the English coin, as copper is rated very much above its real value, so silver is rated somewhat below it. In the market of Europe, in the French coin and in the Dutch coin, an ounce of fine gold exchanges for about fourteen ounces of fine silver. In the English coin, it exchanges for about fifteen ounces, that is, for more silver than it is worth according to the common estimation of Europe. But as the price of copper in bars is not, even in England, raised by the high price of copper in English coin, so the price of silver in bullion is not sunk by the low rate of silver in English coin. Silver in bullion still preserves its proper proportion to gold; for the same reason that copper in bars preserves its proper proportion to silver.

就英格兰铸币中所包含不同金属的比例来说，由于铜的估价远远超过它的真实价值，因而白银的估价便略低于它的真实价值。对于欧洲市场的法国和荷兰的铸币来说，纯金1盎司大约兑换纯银14盎司。就英格兰的铸币来说，纯金1盎司却能兑换纯银约15盎司，也就是说，按照欧洲普遍的算法，纯金1盎司所值的白银要多一些。然而，即使在英格兰，就像铜块的价格并没有因英格兰铸币中铜的价格过高而增高，银块价格也没有因英格兰铸币中白银的价格过低而下落。银块与黄金仍保持着适当的比例。出于同样的原因，铜块与白银也是如此。

Upon the reformation of the silver coin in the reign of William III. the price of silver bullion still continued to be somewhat above the mint price. Mr. Locke imputed this high price to the permission of exporting silver bullion, and to the prohibition of exporting silver coin. This permission of exporting, he said, rendered the demand for silver bullion greater than the demand for silver coin. But the number of people who want silver coin for the common uses of buying and selling at home, is surely much greater than that of those who want silver bullion either for the use of exportation or for any other use. There subsists at present a like permission of exporting gold bullion, and a like prohibition of exporting gold coin; and yet the price of gold bullion has fallen below the mint price. But in the English coin silver was then, in the same manner as now, under-rated in proportion to gold; and the gold coin (which at that time too was not supposed to require any reformation) regulated then, as well as now, the real value of the whole coin. As the reformation of the silver coin did not then reduce the price of silver bullion to the mint price, it is not very probable that a like reformation will do so now.

威廉三世统治期间，银币改革后，银块的价格仍然略高于造币厂的价格。洛克认为，银块之所以价高，是允许输出银块而禁止输出银币导致的。他说，允许银块输出使得国内对银块的需求大于对白银的需求。但是，因在国内进行买卖而需要银块的人有很多，数量必然比为出口或为其他目的而需要银块的人多得多。现在同样允许输出金块、禁止输出金币，而金块价格却落到造币厂价格之下。那时就像现在一样，铸币所需的白银对黄金的比价被低估了。那时的金币（当时也被认为没有必要改革）像现在一样，支配着一切铸币的真实价值。既然曾经银币的改革，不能使银块价格降低到造币厂价格以下，那么现在，类似的改革也很可能做不到这一点。

Were the silver coin brought back as near to its standard weight as the gold, a guinea, it is probable, would, according to the present proportion, exchange for more silver in coin than it would purchase in bullion. The silver coin containing its full standard weight, there would in this case be a profit in melting it down, in order, first, to sell the bullion for gold coin and afterwards to exchange this gold coin for silver coin, to be melted down in the same manner. Some alteration in the present proportion seems to be the only method of preventing this inconveniency.

假若银币能够像金币那样，做到和标准重量大致相同，那么按照现在的比例，1几尼金币所能换得的银币，就可能要多于它所能购买的银块。在这种情况下，如果将含有十足标准重量的银币熔成银块，再用银块兑换金币，然后用金币换取银币，就能获利。要防止此类问题出现，唯一的方法似乎只能是改变当前的金银比价。

The inconveniency perhaps would be less if silver was rated in the coin as much above its proper proportion to gold as it is at present rated below it; provided it was at the same time enacted that silver should not be a legal tender for more than the change of a guinea; in the same manner as copper is not a legal tender for more than the change of a shilling. No creditor could in this case be cheated in consequence of the high valuation of silver in coin; as no creditor can at present be cheated in consequence of the high valuation of copper. The bankers only would suffer by this regulation. When a run comes upon them they sometimes endeavour to gain time by paying in sixpence, and they would be precluded by this regulation from this discreditable method of evading immediate payment. They would be obliged in consequence to keep at all times in their coffers a greater quantity of cash than at present; and though this might no doubt be a considerable inconveniency to them, it would at the same time be a considerable security to their creditors.

如果让铸币中白银的估价高于白银与黄金的适当比例（目前这一估价低于白银与黄金的比例），同时规定白银除了可以兑换几尼外，不得充当法定货币（就像铜除了可以兑换先令外，不能充当法定货币一样），那么上述问题或许可以减少。在这种情况下，铸币中白银的估价高绝不会让任何债权人蒙受损失，正如现在铸币中铜的估价高，不会使债权人蒙受损失一样。这一规定只会使银行家们吃亏。当他们的银行遭遇挤兑时，他们有时用最小的六便士银币来支付款项，以此拖延时间。但这一规定却使他们不能再使用这种不光彩的方法来逃避即时支付。结果便是，他们不得不随时在金柜中储存比现在数量更多的现金。虽然这对银行家们来说相当不便，但却能很好地保障债权人的利益。

Three pounds seventeen shillings and tenpence halfpenny (the mint price of gold) certainly does not contain, even in our present excellent gold coin, more than an ounce of standard gold, and it may be thought, therefore, should not purchase more standard bullion. But gold in coin is more convenient than gold in bullion, and though, in England, the coinage is free, yet the gold which is carried in bullion to the mint, can seldom be returned in coin to the owner till after a delay of several weeks. In the present hurry of the mint, it could not be returned till after a delay of several months. This delay is equivalent to a small duty, and renders gold in coin somewhat more valuable than an equal quantity of gold in bullion. If in the English coin silver was rated according to its proper proportion to gold, the price of silver bullion would probably fall below the mint price even without any reformation of the silver coin; the value even of the present worn and defaced silver coin being regulated by the value of the excellent gold coin for which it can be changed.

即使就如今最好的金币来说，3镑17先令10.5便士（黄金的造币厂价格）也必然无法含有一盎司以上的标准金。因此，有人认为，这数额不应当能购买更多的标准金块。但是，金币使用起来比金块更方便，而且，虽然说在英格兰铸造货币是免费的，但将金块送到造币厂后，往往要等几星期才能换回铸币。现在造币厂工作繁忙，要等到几个月后才能取回铸币。时间上的拖延相当于收取了小额的铸币税，并使金币的价值略高于同等数量的金块的价值。所以，在英格兰的铸币中，白银若能按照其对黄金的适当比例定值，那么，就算不对银币进行改革，也能使银块价格降到造币厂价格以下，甚至现在磨损了的银币价值也会受银币所能兑换的优良金币价值的支配。

A small seignorage or duty upon the coinage of both gold and silver would probably increase still more the superiority of those metals in coin above an equal quantity of either of them in bullion. The coinage would in this case increase the value of the metal coined in proportion to the extent of this small duty; for the same reason that the fashion increases the value of plate in proportion to the price of that fashion. The superiority of coin above bullion would prevent the melting down of the coin, and would discourage its exportation. If upon any public exigency it should become necessary to export the coin, the greater part of it would soon return again of its own accord. Abroad it could sell only for its weight in bullion. At home it would buy more than that weight. There would be a profit, therefore, in bringing it home again. In France a seignorage of about eight per cent is imposed upon the coinage, and the French coin, when exported, is said to return home again of its own accord.

对铸造金银币征收小额铸币税，或许会使铸币中金银的价值高出同等数量的金块银块的价值。在这种情况下，铸币会按小额税的比例增加所铸金属的价值，就像把金银制成器皿时会按照制造费的多少增加金银器皿的价值一样。铸币价值高于金银块，这不仅可阻止人们将铸币熔化，还可以阻止出口铸币。就算由于公共的某种迫切需要而必须输出货币，大部分货币不久后也会流回国内。在国外，铸币只能以金属块的重量为指标进行出售，而在国内可以购买物品的价值却超过其重量的价值。因此，将输出的货币带回国内是有利可图的。法国对铸币征收8％的铸币税。据说，法国的货币在出口后都能自然而然地回到本国来。

The occasional fluctuations in the market price of gold and silver bullion arise from the same causes as the like fluctuations in that of all other commodities. The frequent loss of those metals from various accidents by sea and by land, the continual waste of them in gilding and plating, in lace and embroidery, in the wear and tear of coin, and in that of plate; require, in all countries which possess no mines of their own, a continual importation, in order to repair this loss and this waste. The merchant importers, like all other merchants, we may believe, endeavour, as well as they can, to suit their occasional importations to what, they judge, is likely to be the immediate demand. With all their attention, however, they sometimes overdo the business, and sometimes underdo it. When they import more bullion than is wanted, rather than incur the risk and trouble of exporting it again, they are sometimes willing to sell a part of it for something less than the ordinary or average price. When, on the other hand, they import less than is wanted, they get something more than this price. But when, under all those occasional fluctuations, the market price either of gold or silver bullion continues for several years together steadily and constantly, either more or less above, or more or less below the mint price, we may be assured that this steady and constant, either superiority or inferiority of price, is the effect of something in the state of the coin, which, at that time, renders a certain quantity of coin either of more value or of less value than the precise quantity of bullion which it ought to contain. The constancy and steadiness of the effect, supposes a proportionable constancy and steadiness in the cause.

金银条块市场价格有时会发生变动，其原因也和所有其他商品市场价格发生变动一样。在海陆运输途中碰到意外事件时，在镀金和镶边的过程中，在铸币的流通过程中，在制作金属器皿的过程中，金属常常会蒙受损失。所以，那些自己没有矿山的国家，都需要不断进口金银，以弥补此类损失和消耗。我相信，金银进口商也像其他商人一样，竭尽全力使自己不定期的金银进口符合自己对当时需求的判断。但是，无论他们考虑得如何周到，有时还是会出现进口太多，有时进口太少的情况。假如他们进口的金银条块多于需求，他们情愿以略低于一般水平的价格在国内销售一部分，也不愿冒险或费一番周折将多余的再输出去。反之，如果他们进口的金属条块少于需求，他们就能得到比这个价格更高的利润。但是，尽管有这种偶然变动，如果金银条块的市场价格能在好几年内一直保持稳定的状态，略高或略低于造币厂价格，我们可以肯定，这种情况一定是受到了铸币本身的某种情况影响，从而使得一定数量铸币的价值在这几年内高于或低于铸币中应含有的金银条块的数量。这种影响的稳定和持续，与造成这种影响的原因的稳定和持续是成比例的。

The money of any particular country is, at any particular time and place, more or less an accurate measure of value according as the current coin is more or less exactly agreeable to its standard, or contains more or less exactly the precise quantity of pure gold or pure silver which it ought to contain. If in England, for example, forty-four guineas and a half contained exactly a pound weight of standard gold, or eleven ounces of fine gold and one ounce of alloy, the gold coin of England would be as accurate a measure of the actual value of goods at any particular time and place as the nature of the thing would admit. But if, by rubbing and wearing, forty-four guineas and a half generally contain less than a pound weight of standard gold; the diminution, however, being greater in some pieces than in others; the measure of value comes to be liable to the same sort of uncertainty to which all other weights and measures are commonly exposed. As it rarely happens that these are exactly agreeable to their standard, the merchant adjusts the price of his goods, as well as he can, not to what those weights and measures ought to be, but to what, upon an average, he finds by experience they actually are. In consequence of a like disorder in the coin, the price of goods comes, in the same manner, to be adjusted, not to the quantity of pure gold or silver which the coin ought to contain, but to that which, upon an average, it is found by experience, it actually does contain.

在某个特定的时间和地点，任何一个国家的货币是否是价值的准确尺度，要看通用的铸币是否准确地以它为本位；换句话说，要看铸币是否准确地包含它所应包含的纯金或纯银的精确数量。例如，在英格兰，如果44.5几尼恰好含有1磅的标准金，即纯金11盎司和合金1盎司，那么英格兰的金币在任何特定时间和地点在本质上都是商品实际价值的正确尺度。倘若这44.5几尼，所包含的标准金重量因磨损消耗而少于1磅，而且磨损的程度又不尽相同，那么这种价值尺度就会像其他各种度量衡一样，多少会不准确。由于几乎没有完全符合标准的度量衡，所以商人们在调整商品价格时，总是尽可能不按照应当有的度量衡标准，而按照自己在经验中发现的平均数来调整。由于铸币中也出现这种混乱，因此商品价格也不是按铸币中应当含有的纯金或纯银的数量来调整，而是按照商人以经验觉察到的铸币实际含量来作调整。

By the money-price of goods, it is to be observed, I understand always the quantity of pure gold or silver for which they are sold, without any regard to the denomination of the coin. Six shillings and eightpence, for example, in the time of Edward I. , I consider as the same money-price with a pound sterling in the present times; because it contained, as nearly as we can judge, the same quantity of pure silver.

需要指出的是，我所说的商品货币价格，指的是商品出售所得的纯金或纯银的数量，与铸币名称无关。例如，在我看来，爱德华一世时代6先令8便士的货币价格，和今天1镑的货币价格，应该是相同的。因为根据我们的判断，二者包含同样数量的纯银。