What is "value-form"

The value-form or form of value is a concept in Marxist theory. It refers to the social form (a socially attributed status) of a commodity (any product traded in markets), which contrasts with the tangible use-value or utility (its "useful form" or "natural form") which it has, as a product which satisfies some human need. Marx seeks to provide a brief morphology of the category of economic value as such, with regard to its substance, the forms which this substance takes, and how its magnitude is determined or expressed.