Hieronymus Schlick was a Bohemian count who authorised the minting of ''Joachimsthalers'', after Joachimsthal, the valley in which the silver was mined. ''Joachimsthalers'' was later shortened to ''

thaler A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...

'', the origin of the word "

dollar Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...

". In 1516, a silver deposit was discovered near the home of Hieronymus Schlick. By 1519, Schlick started minting silver coins in his castle without official sanction, and on January 1, 1520, he received official approval to operate a mint. It was probably more profitable for him to mint silver into coins rather than just selling the silver. Between 1534 and 1536, King Ferdinand I ordered the construction of an imperial mint in Jachymov, and the building that housed the imperial mint served as a museum until as late as 1976.

References

* 15th-century nobility from Bohemia {{europe-noble-stub