How beneficial is a fully recognizable money to the economy? This paper answers this question for the commodity money system. We build a model in which money is made of precious metal coins, yet its intrinsic quality is imperfectly recognizable by sellers. Based on historical evidence, we allow...

When money was made of gold and silver, individuals faced the problem of determining the intrinsic content of coins in many exchange situations. In this paper we look at a well-documented solution to this problem, and a key institution of the commodity money system: coin assaying. To that goal...