h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Now here's the whole truth on 'dollar' as the'Kluge' (being the God of German etymological dictionaries) would have it:
In the 16th century, coins that were made of silver from the German city of St.Joachimsthal were called 'Joachimstaler' (which means just this - 'from Joachimstal'). This was soon abbreviated to 'Taler'and became a wide-spread term for all kinds of coins and currencies. How and when exactly it made its way into the American 'dollar' I don't know, but it is certain that it was borrowed from the northern German variant 'daler'.
Stets zu Diensten

I meant Masonic Lodges (I don't know how I came up with Houses)!
My vocabulary is seriously deteriorating here

Regards,
Ariadni

I meant Masonic Lodges (I don't know how I came up with Houses)!
My vocabulary is seriously deteriorating here

Regards,
Ariadni

Surely, it is better to run in the rain, because if you run twice as fast as you walk , you get out of the rain twice as quickly and therefore are only half as wet. Doesn't this make sense? Or is it too simple?

Actually, e'en though the Romans used Gold, I thought, and I have been known to be wrong at times though few and far between, that the British had used a silver standard for a few good reasons such as:

~It weighed less.
~It was a more stable currency.
~The Hallmark on a pound was less likely to be flattened out by the weight of the standard itself.
~There was more silver in Britain than gold with which to make currency.
~You can keep your wealth in practical, useable, pure form (like bowls, flagons, trays, utensils, pitchers, etc.,) and still have it liquid as opposed to dropping it all in a vault somewhere (as pure gold is not too suitable for many of these things as it is too ductile) or making an alloy (with a non-standard value).
~Arguably, it was easier to test the purity of silver than gold. (I said, arguably. The crucible for silver and the fire for gold but making pure silver form impure silver was simple enough without a really hot fire.)

More transportable, more practical, more convienient, more of it than gold, less of it than clay.... It was either that or use the green stuff. You know,... leaves.