Page:Tales in Political Economy by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.djvu/65

 itself was wholesome and nutritious. They had, therefore, the two necessary elements of value, i.e. they were useful in themselves, and there was some difficulty in obtaining them; and every substance used as money must have these qualities, for it is obvious that people will not exchange away products which have cost them labour and self-denial to obtain in return a substance which can be obtained without effort, or which serves no useful purpose. But, although the cocoa-nuts possessed one quality, "intrinsic value," which made it possible to use them as money for the purpose of carrying on all exchanges, in two other qualities which should characterize the substance used as money they were found wanting, to a degree that soon led to the abandonment of the idea that they could be used as money. In the first place, although they had considerable intrinsic value, this value varied very much from time to time. Their value in use was pretty constant, but the difficulty of obtaining them varied exceedingly: at one time, nearly all the cocoa-nuts fit for use would be consumed; those remaining on the