What is Joachimstaler?

There was a lucky draw contest in a farm house in Woodstock near Chicago. The farm house was fantastic. A large crowd was sitting and waiting for the winner to be announced. Michael,a tall man with blond hairs, pony tailed opened the box. All eyes turned towards the man. He read a note on a paper and announced the name. Everybody was dumbstruck. The name was from none of the crowd.

The crowd stunned in silence and storm seemed to break loose. People started gesticulating.

A government official stood up from his chair.

“If this is supposed to be a joke. I did not get it.” he snarled.

“Did you fake the note or did somebody else?” another cried out.

“Why don’t you admit that you did the whole thing for your benefit?” said reporter snidely.

Michael denied the allegations vehemently. “Now you can see,what you are saying.” he cried out. Standing in utter shock, he defended himself. The winner was to be rewarded with Joachimstaler.

The news spread to the outside crowd and people began to enter the hall. Finally he managed to be heard above the unruly mob.

“Please leave immediately.” he said. I shall get the matter investigated properly.

With the help of local police, he was able to evacuate the farmhouse and persuade them to go home.

Tom was one of the contestant among the crowd. He is a doctor in Mercy Harvard Hospital. He returned to his home in Woodstock.

In the night, Tom had his dinner. “Michael is the thief himself or not?” Tom asked to himself. Joachimstaler is some kind of coin which he already knew. He searched on the internet for top renowned coin dealer, got his contact number.

In the morning after having breakfast, Tom phoned to the coin dealer. He told him to come to his home on Sunday.

He went to him on the following day. He parked his car in front of his house. The coin dealer smiled, welcomed Tom and introduced himself. “Hi! I am Prince, a well known coin dealer of Chicago. How can I help you?” he said.

Both sat together.”What is Joachimstaler?” Tom asked. The dealer looked thoughtful. You see, Joachimstaler and Schlickstaler are two really silver coins that were minted in Joachim in Bohemia in fifteenth century.

” Is that why it is called Taler?” Tom asked.

Yes!You are right. It became very famous in Europe and reached America through Greece.

“That’s where it became dollar.” Tom put in.

Let’s get back to Joachimstaler. Count Steve of France had hundred of gold coins in 1403. He did not use them as currency. Instead, used to give as gift for royalty to King Carl and King Louis.

“That makes them valuable indeed.” Tom said.

There are four variants of Joachimstaler. A buyer can pay ranging from one thousand dollars to four thousand dollars. Only an expert can find the differences.

“Can you show me four different variants of coin?” Tom asked.

“Not coins. But I can show you in handbook.” he said.

He brought a handbook and showed me a Joachimstaler. There was a holy Joachim on one side and a Bohemian lion with two outer canine teeth on the other side. There were four variants of Joachimstaler.

Likewise, Tom studied all the variants of Joachimstaler carefully and memorized each coin.

“Did someone visit you to sell or buy any coin?” Tom asked.

Yes, a tall man with long hairs came to me yesterday to sell Joachimstaler.

“What?” Tom asked surprisingly.

Yes, he sold me at two thousand dollars.

“Do you remember his name?” Tom asked.

Not exactly. I think it was something like Michael.

“Can you tell me why are you asking so?” Prince asked.

“I was just asking.” Tom said. He thanked Prince for telling about Joachimstaler. He sat in his car and immediately phoned police. He narrated all the incidents. The next morning in the front page of newspaper, news headline was “Michael arrested and Joachimstaler seized.”

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