The definition of money and its essential characteristic

Money may be defined as a commodity or group of commodities customarily paid and received in exchange for other commodities and services without reference to the personal credit of the one who offers it. That is, a personal note is not money, but a bank-note is. It is necessary to observe further, however, that not only the credit of the one who offers it, but also the desires and intentions of the persons who receive it, have an important bearing upon the question of what is and what is not money. The person who receives money in exchange for commodities or services takes it with no other thought than that of passing it on again in exchange for other goods and services. No one, except the miser, values or wants money on its own account, even though the materials of which some forms of money are made may have utility and value of their own.

The one really essential characteristic of money is that the holder should be able to get rid of it without undue loss. Other commodities have their ultimate consumers; money never finds an ultimate destination or resting-place: it is tossed about from person to person until finally, worn out, lost, or melted down, it passes out of use.