Adam Smith：The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter V, Paragraph 102

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.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300
Locator：Book I, Chapter V, paragraph 102 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Exact match

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