The Journey of the Daalder, the Silver Coin from a Valley's Name
The daalder was a silver coin born in the Netherlands. Disliked at home, it was circulated for foreign payments, eventually transforming into the "dollar" in English parlance. This is the story of how the name of a single valley became the name of a world currency.
A Silver Coin Without a King's Name or Portrait
In 1575, in the province of Holland, then in the midst of a revolt, a silver coin was struck. Named the leeuwendaalder, or lion daalder, this coin bore neither the customary portrait of the king nor his name. It was a special silver coin issued to finance the war.
Before the appearance of this silver coin, the Netherlands had struck the Philipsdaalder, bearing the portrait of Philip II, in 1557, and added the kruisdaalder, with the Burgundian cross, in 1567. In contrast to these, the fineness of the leeuwendaalder was set lower than that of the rijksdaalder, the standard of the time.
Disliked at Home, Circulated to the World
Due to its low fineness, the leeuwendaalder was unpopular at home. For this very reason, it was preferentially used for foreign payments. Thus, as if driven from its homeland, the silver coin crossed the seas and unexpectedly came to serve as a world trade coin.
This name "daalder" eventually changed to "dollar" to suit the English tongue. And the people of North America called the Spanish silver coins they handled daily by this new name: the Spanish dollar.
A Journey Beginning in a Bohemian Valley
But where did the word "daalder" come from in the first place? Its origins can be traced back to Bohemia around 1520. In the valley of Joachimsthal, where a silver mine was located, the minting of large silver coins began in earnest. Taking the name of the valley, people called this silver coin the "thaler."
This name "thaler" flowed into the Low Countries, becoming "daalder" in the Dutch language by way of the Low German "daler." The name of a silver coin born in a distant valley became a word in the Low Countries, then crossed the sea and transformed again into the English "dollar."
The Name of a Small Valley Becomes a World Currency
At the end of the journey taken by the name "thaler" lies the name "dollar," which today stands at the center of the global economy. Behind that name lie the darkness of the mine shafts in 16th-century Bohemia's St. Joachim's Valley and the sound of hammers in a silver-mining town.
It is not the name of an emperor, nor of a great nation's capital. The name of a small mountain valley became the name of a world currency. In an age when the United States did not yet exist in shadow or form, long before its independence, the name of its currency was already decided.
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