Adam Smith：The Wealth of Nations, Book II, Chapter II, Paragraph 727

If the pension of such a person was paid to him, not in gold, but in a weekly bill for a guinea, his revenue surely would not so properly consist in the piece of paper, as in what he could get for it. A guinea may be considered as a bill for a certain quantity of necessaries and conveniencies upon all the tradesmen in the neighbourhood. The revenue of the person to whom it is paid, does not so properly consist in the piece of gold, as in what he can get for it, or in what he can exchange it for. If it could be exchanged for nothing, it would, like a bill upon a bankrupt, be of no more value than the most useless piece of paper.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3300
Locator：Book II, Chapter II, paragraph 727 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Exact match

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