Adam Smith：The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter XI, Paragraph 556

The quantity of brass and iron annually brought from the mine to the market, is out of all proportion greater than that of gold and silver. We do not, however, upon this account, imagine that those coarse metals are likely to multiply beyond the demand, or to become gradually cheaper and cheaper. Why should we imagine that the precious metals are likely to do so? The coarse metals, indeed, though harder, are put to much harder uses, and, as they are of less value, less care is employed in their preservation. The precious metals, however, are not necessarily immortal any more than they, but are liable, too, to be lost, wasted, and consumed, in a great variety of ways.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300
Locator：Book I, Chapter XI, paragraph 556 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Exact match

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