ABSTRACT
Neither money nor the money market lend themselves to ease of definition, tending to be classified by what functions they performed rather than what they were. Money is seen as a medium of exchange or a store of value; and though certain components, such as coins and notes, can be readily identified, others fit much less easily, fulfilling some of the functions of money only at particular times and in specific circumstances. Cheques, bills of exchange, bankers’ drafts and credit facilities enter only the area of quasi-money, but it is with these that the London money market was concerned. It did not deal in coins or banknotes but in credit instruments – claims to future payment. It did this without any formal markets, for its
trading took place in and between the offices of those involved in the City of London and, later, with offices at a distance through the telegraph and the telephone.3
