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The silver of Zacatecas
Zacatecas in northern Mexico is a mining town that from 1546 produced silver in quantities the world had not seen before. The Spanish silver dollar became a worldwide medium of exchange and was legal tender in the United States until 1857; the dollar sign descends from it. The Manila galleons carried the silver directly across the Pacific to China, which had shifted its tax system to silver payment and therefore absorbed a large share of world production. The work was done under repartimiento — forced labour in rotating shifts — and mercury amalgamation poisoned both workers and landscape.
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