So, we exchange an ordinary commodity for a monetary commodity. What happens in this case? A specific quantity of commodity exchanges for a specific quantity of monetary commodity. In the case of monetary metals, this quantity is determined by weight.
For convenience, metals began to be minted into coins, whose primary characteristic was a strictly defined weight, confirmed by a hallmark on the coin. Here the first important step in our history occurred: coins received proper names. A specific weight of metal became one word, and a different weight became another. Thus the drachmas, denarii, sesterces, pounds, francs, grivnas, and others entered the picture. Then a telling effect manifests itself—people begin conducting monetary calculations not in the weight of the metal, but in the names of the coins, that is, in monetary units. Since monetary calculation is conducted in monetary units (dinars, tugriks, dollars), this allows the state to “debase the coin” (produce inflation of monetary units), reducing the metal weight while preserving the same name. (For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that weight measures in those times also differed greatly in variety, so the “proper name” of a certain weight was a significant convenience.)