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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Archeocultura, post: 5390119, member: 97204&quot;]Nearly all of Europe used silver coins in the Middle Ages; small denominations were not only small in size, but also low in silver content. In this way they avoided the use of copper. In the seventeenth century Sweden had a great lack of silver and decided to issue instead copper plates of a massive weight with several coinlike stamps on it - extremely impractical. As far as my knowledge goes, King Charles the fifth of Spain introduced small copper coins in the mid-sixteenth century. At about the same time, some cities also issued copper bracteates to serve as change. As prosperity grew and trade flourished (v.v.) the need for gold and heavy silver was felt. In Central Europe new silver mines were discovered (Joachimstal in Bohemia) and from that last part of the name &#039;Tal&#039; (=valley) the large silver coins were named &#039;Taler&#039; which name was taken over and even ended up as &#039;Dollar&#039; . The reason silver was abolished as metal for coins lay in the greater-than-facevalue of the silver in the late fifties. All countries had left their &#039;golden standards&#039; and money had become &#039;fiduciary&#039; - you had to believe the bank or the government was good for it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Frans[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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