Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 171, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1919 — COIN TOOK FANCY OF ARABS [ARTICLE]

COIN TOOK FANCY OF ARABS

Austrian Maria Theresa Dollar Has Long Been the Principal Money of That Region. The only coin in general circulation in Abyssinia is the Austrian Maria Theresa dollar, of silver. It Is also the principal money In Arabia, and the story of its Introduction in those regions and all the neighborhood of the Red sea Is quite interesting. i More than a century ago trading Arabs got ’of some of these do!-*' lars -and found the effigy of the queen (which they bore on one side, the reverse showing the Austrian double eagle) so attractive that they sought to obtain more of them, for sale as Jewelry. Later on they became highly popular as a medium of exchange in mercantile transactions in Arabia; and when at intervals the Turkish government prohibited their importation a large and profitable business was done in smuggling them through Aden and other Seaports. They are all dated 1780,, being even now minted from replicas of the original die, which is of rather crude workmanship. Any change would not be understood by the Arabs and Abyssinians arid would render them less acceptable. Bankers and merchants In the Red sea region import the Maria Theresa dollars- in bulk from Trieste, selling them at a good profit or exchanging them for native merchandise. They are somewhat larger than our silver dollars, but weigh less than an ounce and are only a little over four-fifths silver.