Note 473 — VIII

It is essential that the coin has the date 1780 to be accepted as currency. Such dollars were specially minted at Trieste until recently for use in the Sudan. [The importation of these dollars into British territory is now forbidden, but they are still imported into French and German country. Their intrinsic value is about 1s. 6d., but their exchange value in Bornu is at present 3s., though of course it fluctuates. The value of any particular dollar depends on its condition, which is decided by whether or not the brooch on the Queen’s shoulder is visible. This of course gives the native a much valued opportunity for haggling. The date on them (1780) is always the same, doubtless for convenience of minting, but I have twice seen genuine Austrian dollars in circulation, one was a Maria Theresa coin of different design and date, and the other was a Francis I. The native word for a dollar—‘gurus’ or ‘grush’—is said to be a corruption of ‘groschen’, vid. Decorse, Rabah et les Arabes du Chari, p. 56. Carbou, L’Arabe parlé au Ouaday, p. 132, states that dollars have been coined by the French Mint for the African trade.]