商品货币是法定货币以外的另一种货币类型，在政府的保证之外货币本身也有其内在的基本价值。

在近代，中央银行还没有发行法定货币的年代，大部分的国家流通的货币除了作为交易媒介以外，也有其它的用途。例如一般常见的贵金属制品，如金币、银钱，可以熔化后再制成其他的成品、也可转卖。有时尽管一国的央行已经发行了法定货币，但是由于国家发行的货币不得人心，故多数人还是改采商品货币──例如在二次世界大战后的德国，便有过以香烟取代曾经恶性通货膨胀的德国马克作为日常生活上普遍的交易媒介。

Commodity money is money whose value comes from a commodity of which it is made. Commodity money consists of objects that have value in themselves as well as value in their use as money.

Examples of commodities that have been used as mediums of exchange include gold, silver, copper, salt, peppercorns, tea, large stones (such as Rai stones), decorated belts, shells, alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis, candy, cocoa beans, cowries and barley. These items were sometimes used in a metric of perceived value in conjunction to one another, in various commodity valuation or price system economies.