The National tribune., 1907-10-31
NO MORE 4GERnax rALERs.-

Everything in this world changes. and
the latest change Is that the dollar is
no more in the home of its birth. The
taller. as the Germans spell 1t, has ceased
to be a German coin since the first of
this month. after having been in use
over 400 years--to be exact. since 1884.
The German word for valley is thai"
coined in the little town of Hall, in
Tyrol. from the silver mine there. Some
writer's say that it was first coined by
the Counts of Schlick in Joaeh;mstahl.
Bohemia. from which it got the name
Joachimsthaler. The pieces were of
fine silver and exactly regular as to
weight, so that they gained a high es-
TEEN in that day, when the coins were
so frequently adulterated by the rulers
when they wanted to initiate the cur
rency. The name was shortened to
thaler. and then the Germans dropped
the III out of the word as unnecessary
The Dutch began using the coin as a
unit and spelled 1t "daler." from which
we derive our name. The next TO take
it up were the Spaniards in coming the
silver of which they pIundered the New
World These dollars were also of great
uniformity in weight and fineness. and
became the standard in the commercial
world, and in order to prevent clip
ping" which INSCRIPTIONS brokers Of
ten resorted to-that is. the cutting
away of part of the piece-the edges
were mlled-that is, had little ridges
put on them. When we tablished our
system of currency we based it on the
money that was best known to us. and
the knowledge of which We had gained
by cur trade with the West Indies and
the Spanish possessions. The act of
1892 based our currency upon the SPAN
ism ''milled dollar" weighing 41s grains
and 1924 fine. We soon found that we
were putting too much silver into our
dollar and in 1897 reduced its weight
to 412is grains. 800 fine, which stand
ard still remains.
The Mexicans retained the former
standard of 416 grains of somewhat less
fineness, and the Mexican dollar OBJ
tanned vogue in the East, especially in
China, which it retains to this day in
spite of all efforts to displace it. The
British, japanese and the United States
have tried hard to substitute another
dollar for it, and one of these attempts
was made by us in ordering the coinage
of trade dollars, weighing 420 grains.
This experiment failed, as the British
and others had, leaving the Mexican
dollar still the favorite in the Chinese
trade. 1t was at one time proposed.
and came near being adopted by Con-
gress, to pay the Mexican Government
four cents on every dollar coined for
the privilege of using the eagle on a
cactus plant, which is the decoration Of
the Mexican dollar.
The German taller was never the equal
of the American or Spanish dollar in
value, and during the past century
ranged at about 66 cents. When Ger
many became a Nation in 1870 the unit
was made a mark of 100 pfennige,
which has value in this country of
23.S cents. 1t is coined in gold in five,
10 and 20 marks. The old taller was
continued as legal tender at the value
of three marks, until the first of this
month, when it was discontinued.
Germany made great mistake when
she did not make her coinage agree
with that of any other great civilized
country. Her mark is hard to trans
late into English. American or French
coins. Much labor and annoyance would
have been saved to mankind if she had
made her mark correspond with the
French franc, English shilling or Amer
lean quarter. Her 20-mark gold piece
is worth s6.76, which puts it out of all
relation to the English pound, the
American SIS piece or the French 25-
franc piece. She coins in silver one, two
and five-mark pieces, which are only
legal tender up to 20 marks.