what are the properties of money 
in order to be most useful money should be fungible durable portable recognizable and stable these properties reduce the transaction cost of using money by making it easy to exchange the word fungible refers to a quality that allows one thing to be exchanged substituted or returned for another thing under the assumption of equivalent value thus units of money should be interchangeable with one another for example metal coins should have a standard weight and purity commodity money should be relatively uniform in quality trying to use a non fungible good as money results in transaction costs that involve individually evaluating each unit of the good before an exchange can take place money should be durable enough to retain its usefulness for many future exchanges a perishable good or a good that degrades quickly due to various exchanges will be less useful for future transactions trying to use a non durable good as money conflicts with money s essential future oriented use and value money should be easy to carry and divide so that a worthwhile quantity can be carried on one s person or transported for example trying to use a good that s difficult or inconvenient to carry as money could require physical transportation that results in transaction costs the authenticity and quantity of the good should be readily apparent to users so that they can easily agree to the terms of an exchange using a non recognizable good as money can result in transaction costs relating to authenticating the goods and agreeing on the quantity needed for an exchange the supply of the item used as money should be relatively constant over time to prevent fluctuations in value using a non stable good as money produces transaction costs due to the risk that its value might rise or fall because of scarcity or over abundance before the next transaction 