Grammar: Word Formation - 2023 őszi

In 1516, vast (0) _______ (quantity) of silver were discovered in the mountains (9) ________ (separate) modern-day Bohemia and Saxony. Local nobleman Count Hieronymus Schlick christened the area Joachimsthal ("Joachim's valley") after Jesus's grandfather, the local patron saint of miners. At the time, Europe was a continent of city-states with local rulers competing for power. One of the most effective ways rulers could (10) _______ (strong) their control was to mint their own currency. Schlick was granted permission to mint his silver coins in January 1520. He (11) _______ (stamp) an image of Joachim on the front and the Bohemian lion on the back and named his new currency "Joachimsthalers" – which soon became shortened to "thalers". Schlick did two smart things to (12) _______ (sure) the thalers' spread and survival. First, he made the thaler the same weight and diameter as the coin (13) _______ (use) throughout central Europe, which made it easier for neighbouring (14) _______ (king) to accept it. Secondly, he minted more coins than the world had ever seen. By 1550, 12 million thalers had spread across Europe. Joachimsthal's mines soon ran dry, but by 1566, the thaler was so well known across Europe that many rulers began remodelling their coins after it. They also renamed them in their own languages. It was the Dutch leeuwendaler ("lion daler") that gave the US currency its name. After (15) ______ (arrive) in New Amsterdam in the 17th century with Dutch colonists, the dalers quickly spread throughout the colonies and English-speaking (16) _______ (settle) started calling them "dollars". The dollar became the official currency of the US in 1792.