THE DOLLAR CHAPTER 5
THE DOLLAR Money does not bring happiness, but it gives power.
A
—Darius the Great, Achaemenid Empire
ccused of espionage and sentenced to death in a closed-door trial, a language student was imprisoned and tortured for more than four years. His government had been working tirelessly to secure his release, but their efforts had been met with resistance and frustration at every turn. In the early hours of a cold January morning, the phone rang in the office of the Secretary of State. It was a call he had been waiting for, a call that he hoped would bring an end to the long ordeal. The voice on the other end of the line was hesitant but urgent. “Mr. Secretary, we have news. We think we may have a way to get him out.” The news was both promising and daunting. The US government had been trying to negotiate a prisoner exchange for months. Now, it seemed, there was a glimmer of hope. On the day of the exchange, a small private jet was chartered to transport a former US Marine and three other prisoners to Switzerland, where the exchange was to take place. Several were in poor health and weak from hunger. All had been denied proper medical care and had suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their captors. As the jet with the captives took off, each passenger felt a mix of emotions: hope, fear, and disbelief. Upon landing, they were quickly hustled into a small room in a Swiss government building. Nothing was settled yet; the proposed deal could still fail. As he sat at a table, a tap landed on his shoulder. He turned to see a US official, who whispered in his ear: “We’re going to get you out of here. Just hang tight.”
THE POTATO KING In the northwest portion of the modern-day Czech Republic is a town named Jáchymov, meaning “Saint Joachim’s Valley.” In German, it is called Joachimsthal. When silver was discovered in the area in the 16th century, it became a mining community. The silver coins were known as Joachimstalers, or thalers (pronounced “taller”) for short. Within a generation, the silver from these mines would be used to mint Reichsthalers, which would serve as the official currency of the
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