"Thanks also for the distinction between the place-holding function of
money
and money as a measure of value. I can see that the gold is, somehow, used
to fix this measure, to keep it in place, so to speak. On the other hand,
what happened to the "socially necessary labour time" as the measure of
value?"
Answer = socially necessary labour time is the substance of value ie the
content, but in order to measure it you need some kind of yardstick which
itself has value, ie money. it's like weight: in order to measure the
weight of objects you need an object which has weight which serves as a
standard of comparison or measure. the value of gold is determined in
exactly the same way as the value of any other commodity, ie it does not
stand outside the laws of commodity production and its value alters subject
to the workings of the system too.
very best wishes to all
P