Comparative Study of Legal Attributes of Money

The legal characteristics of money serve as the gateway to the world of monetary debts, emerging from a comprehensive understanding of money's economic roles. Customary law, in this context, seeks to explore social realities and understand the institutions that humans have developed. By examining existing practices, it aims to establish legal obligations. Consequently, the law positions itself to support the economic functions of money through a declarative lens, assessing these functions before recognizing them as legal definitions through applying reason and logic. Interestingly, domestic legal literature often lacks a function-oriented economic perspective and tends to blur the distinction between the legal characteristics of money and the rules governing monetary debts. Discussions on this topic frequently focus more on regulations regarding monetary debts rather than on the essence of “money” itself, regardless of its role in creating obligations. Therefore, the main question the authors seek to address is: What are the legal characteristics of money in its pure form? This research employs an analytical-library method and a comparative approach, drawing from legal and jurisprudential thought (particularly common law), to systematically identify the legal characteristics of money.