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02.04.

1792: The Czech Roots of the U.S. Dollar

1792: The Czech Roots of the U.S. Dollar
Photo Credit To https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bohemia,_Joachimsthaler_1525_Electrotype_Copy._VF._Reverse..jpg

The United States currency, the dollar, was defined on this day in 1792. The name was created back in the 16th century in Europe, when the Czech Count Schlick began minting silver coins in the Joachimsthal valley (today near the city of Jáchymov in the Czech Republic). The new coin was named Joachimsthaler after that valley, which was abbreviated to thaler, or taler. From that word the Dutch expression daalder was formed, which the English took over as dollar.



The Americans adopted the silver coins from the Spaniards. On this day, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton reported to Congress the amount of Spanish silver coins in the States. These silver coins, which the Spaniards called the peso de ocho (English: Pieces of Eight) because they were worth eight reales, Americans simply switched to its own currency. Thus was created the U.S. dollar, which was defined as 24,057 grams of pure silver.

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