貨 - Change Your MONEY into GOODS

Readings & Meanings:

カ

money, goods

Common Usage:

硬貨

金貨

貨物列車

Examples:

偽の硬貨が自動販売機の中から見つかった。

金貨をオークションで買った。

貨物列車が通り過ぎた。

Translations:

I found this counterfeit coin in the vending machine.

At the auction I bought some gold coins.

The freight train passes through here.

Radical:

The radical is 貝, Kai-hen, the standard "goods" radical, as explained in these other blog posts (except for the last one).

The phonetic element, from which 貨 gets its "ka", is the one we just learned, 化, meaning "transformation."

As 貨 is more for commodities, which are objects that signify a monetary value, 化 + 貨 = money transformed into goods

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/ka.htm