for Commodity B, it will tend to fetch an amount of Commodity B whose value is

the same, "V". Particular circumstances will cause divergence from this rule, ho
wever.
Money
Marx held that metallic money, such as gold, is a commodity, and its value is th
e labour time necessary to produce it (mine it, smelt it, etc.). Marx argued tha
t gold and silver are conventionally used as money because they embody a large a
mount of labour in a small, durable, form, which is convenient. Paper money is,
in this model, a representation of gold or silver, almost without value of its o
wn but held in circulation by state decree.
"Paper money is a token representing gold or money." (Capital, I, Chap III, sect
ion 2, part c.)
Production
Marx lists the elementary factors of production as:
labour, "the personal activity of man." (Capital, I, VII, 1.)
the subject of labour: the thing worked on.
the instruments of labour: tools, labouring domestic animals like horses, ch
emicals used in modifying the subject, etc.
Some subjects of labour are available directly from Nature: uncaught fish, unmin
ed coal, etc. Others are results of a previous stage of production; these are kn
own as raw materials, such as flour or yarn. Workshops, canals, and roads are co
nsidered instruments of labour. (Capital, I, VII, 1.) Coal for boilers, oil for
wheels, and hay for draft horses is considered raw material, not instruments of
labour.
"If, on the other hand, the subject of labour has, so to say, been filtered thro
ugh previous labour, we call it raw material. . . ." (Capital, I, Chap VII, sect
ion 1.)
The subjects of labour and instruments of labour together are called the means o
f production. Relations of production are the relations human beings adopt towa
rd each other as part of the production process. In capitalism, wage labour and
private property are part of the relations of production.
Calculation of value of a product (price not to be confused with value):
If labour is performed directly on Nature and with instruments of negligible
value, the value of the product is simply the labour time. If labour is perform
ed on something that is itself the product of previous labour (that is, on a raw
material), using instruments that have some value, the value of the product is
the valu