Dollar coinage existed long before the United States began minting the large silver coins in 1794. Lynn Glaser explained the history of the dollar in “500 years of Dollars” in the December 1964 issue of Coins magazine.
“Sigismund, Emperor of Germany, had a wealthy vassal named Jasper Schlick who discovered rich veins of silver on his Bohemian Estate, known as Joachimsthal or the valley of St. Joachim,” Glaser wrote. “The last syllable of the name (pronounced with a silent ‘h’) is the German word for Valley and the key to the etymology of our word ‘Dollar.’
“The already rich Jasper was made a count and in 1432 was given the privilege of coining money. He died before he was able to exercise the prerogative to any great extent and it fell to his four nephews to develop the hidden wealth of the valley. Silver became spoken of as ‘the fruit of the Thal,’ or valley. There is
