First Sentence

"WITHOUT entering upon the Doctrine of Money, and confining ourselves strictly to its History, it may be said that what is commonly understood as Money has always consisted, tangibly, of a number of pieces of some material, marked by public authority and named or understood in the laws or customs : that its palpable characteristic was its mark of authority ; its essential characteristic, the possession of value, defined by law ; and its function, the legal power to pay debts and taxes and the mechanical power to facilitate the exchange of other objects possessing value."