Jachymov - birthplace of the mighty dollar
In this week's Spotlight, Rob Cameron visits Jachymov, a lonely mining town in the Ore Mountains which has played an important role in the history of modern man. It was here in the 16th century that the first "Joachimsthaler" coins were minted; nicknamed "tolars" by the Czechs, the popular solid silver coins spread across the Hapsburg Empire and into the New World, where they eventually became the currency of the fledgling United States. It was also Jachymov where miners first came across lumps of deadly black ore, which centuries later was identified as uranium. Join Rob as he tours this extraordinary town, and descends 500 metres into the earth to see the former uranium mines, dubbed "Jachymov Hell" by political prisoners of the Communist regime. All that and more, in this week's Spotlight.
In this week's Spotlight, Rob Cameron visits Jachymov, a lonely mining town in the Ore Mountains which has played an important role in the history of modern man. It was here in the 16th century that the first "Joachimsthaler" coins were minted; nicknamed "tolars" by the Czechs, the popular solid silver coins spread across the Hapsburg Empire and into the New World, where they eventually became the currency of the fledgling United States. It was also Jachymov where miners first came across lumps of deadly black ore, which centuries later was identified as uranium. Join Rob as he tours this extraordinary town, and descends 500 metres into the earth to see the former uranium mines, dubbed "Jachymov Hell" by political prisoners of the Communist regime. All that and more, in this week's Spotlight.
