The other or more complex
form of exchange grew, as might have been inferred, out of the
simpler. When the inhabitants of one country became more dependent
on those of another, and they imported what they needed, and
exported what they had too much of, money necessarily came into use.
For the various necessaries of life are not easily carried about,
and hence men agreed to employ in their dealings with each other
something which was intrinsically useful and easily applicable to
the purposes of life, for example, iron, silver, and the like. Of this
the value was at first measured simply by size and weight, but in
process of time they put a stamp upon it, to save the trouble of
weighing and to mark the value.
When the use of coin had once been discovered, out of the barter
of necessary articles arose the other art of wealth getting, namely,
retail trade; which was at first probably a simple matter, but
became more complicated as soon as men learned by experience whence
and by what exchanges the greatest profit might be made. Originating
in the use of coin, the art of getting wealth is generally thought
to be chiefly concerned with it, and to be the art which produces
riches and wealth; having to consider how they may be accumulated.
Indeed, riches is assumed by many to be only a quantity of coin,
because the arts of getting wealth and retail trade are concerned with
coin.
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