The Rise of the European Emperor

As expected by Marin, when the fake "French silver coin" was made, it was much stronger than the genuine French silver coin. After trying to mint a thousand small French deniers silver coins, Marin compared them for a long time, and found that the specifications of these thousand "French silver coins" are very consistent, and they are consistent to perfection.

But in fact, the real French silver coins are beaten by craftsmen with hammers and simple stamping dies, and the quality is far from that of machine-made coins.

Such high-quality silver coins cannot be made by the French government. If the shipment volume of Nimade is smaller, such as tens of thousands of pieces, it is okay to say, if it is tens of millions, it will definitely alarm the French official. After all, who have you seen hundreds of thousands of silver coins look the same? It's great, but it's a flaw...

It's like a Japanese army team pretended to be the Eighth Route Army during the Anti-Japanese War and wanted to cut off the Eighth Route Army headquarters. As a result, the devils in this team spoke Chinese quite well and could speak dialects... But what's so special, because everyone in this team was dressed in New clothes, neat and brand new equipment, and even the horses they ride are Oriental horses... Then it was revealed... After all, the real Eighth Road are poor, and it is normal for the soldiers to patch their clothes. And the equipment is brand new, and others don't believe it... Also, the horses ridden by the Eighth Route Army at that time were mainly local horses, and there were very few Dongyang horses captured.

Marin can't wait to slap a few big-eared scratches on the craftsman responsible for forging French silver coins - are you a tiger? It's so good that others can't see it? Moreover, in this era, there is no such standard and unified silver coin. After all, it is hand-made, and there is a lot of error.

Also, the density of fake silver coins is not well controlled. Because both nickel and copper have a density of 8.9 grams per cubic centimeter. When the two are mixed, the density is naturally still 8.9 grams per cubic centimeter. However, silver and copper alloys are different. The density of silver is 10.53 grams per cubic centimeter, which is significantly higher than copper and nickel. If you want to make fake silver coins that are difficult to distinguish between true and false, not only the appearance must be similar, but also the size and density must be similar. After all, in this era, there is a very simple way to identify the authenticity of silver coins - the method of comparison...

An experienced person only needs to compare two silver coins and weigh them with a simple balance. As long as one real silver coin is used as a reference, another silver coin can be seen by weighing and comparing.

But it is precisely because this method is simple and backward that it gives Marin room to operate - as long as the density and appearance are similar, it is difficult for people in this era to see.

In fact, Marin had previously made a lead, zinc and copper counterfeit. But the problem with that kind of counterfeit money is big, why? Because the density of zinc is only 7.14 grams per cubic centimeter. To make a realistic counterfeit silver coin, more lead must be added to compensate for the difference in density.

But the problem is that if too much lead is added, over time, the appearance of the "silver coin" will turn black. After turning black, you can use this fake silver coin as a pencil to write...

And nickel has the same density as copper,

In this way, when making fake silver coins, you can add less lead. As long as the lead is a little less, the problem is still not big. As long as the lead is added so that the density is about the same as the real coin, and since copper and nickel have the same density, you can put as much nickel as you want.

Moreover, the processing and smelting of Cuban laterite nickel ore is very simple. Although cobalt ore is associated with laterite nickel ore, the nickel block obtained by the reduction reaction is fine even if it contains cobalt metal. Because the density of cobalt is also 8.9 grams per cubic centimeter...

However, the mining and smelting of copper ore is much more complicated, because the copper content of copper ore can reach 1%, even if it is rich. Like the Fayilun Copper Mine, which can have several percent copper content, it is considered a bonanza.

In addition, more than half of the copper mines are associated minerals, often accompanied by various associated minerals such as gold, silver and iron. Therefore, the screening of copper mines is very troublesome. The composition of laterite nickel ore is relatively simple, the metal is mainly nickel, and a small amount of cobalt is associated, which is easier to handle.

In terms of mining and smelting costs, the production cost of nickel is much lower than that of copper. So, Marlin would rather add a little more nickel. However, considering that he will be working on stainless steel in the future, he still saved a little bit. But in the first batch of fake silver coins, Marin still added a lot of nickel. The reason for this is that copper prices in Europe are too expensive...the cost of using too much copper is a bit high...

But in the future, if he can get cheap copper from the Ming Dynasty and Japan, he is still more willing to add more copper. After all, nickel is a rarer strategic metal resource than copper as a whole.

That is to say, Marin is a traveler. He just knows that Cuba has laterite nickel ore that is easy to find, which makes the acquisition cost of nickel relatively low. In addition, this time, Marin mainly used a large amount of nickel to make counterfeit coins because he really lacked currency. He wouldn't be happy to use nickel to make counterfeit coins if he could get a lot of cheap copper and silver.

...

This time, Wiltz did a great job in Cuba. After all, he was a mining engineer and had too much experience in mining. This time, Marin got 50 tons of nickel metal, equivalent to 50 million grams. If you add 1 gram of nickel to each 1.5-gram counterfeit silver coin, you can make 50 million French deniers!

What is the concept of 50 million deniers? The exchange ratio of deniers and imperial fennis is 2 to 1. That is, 50 million deniers are equivalent to 25 million fennis. And 60 pfennig is equal to a ducat gold coin, so 50 million deniers is equivalent to 416,700 gold coins...

Although there is a cost to minting coins, Marin can guarantee that he will be more profitable than the average country by replacing silver with nickel metal and minting coins with a screw press.

...

The only problem now is that the fake "French silver coins" forged by the Beihai Mint are too good. In order to solve this problem, Marin finally came up with a solution - increasing the error method...

What is the "increased error method"? It is to make the mold for casting money rough. Then, a deliberate gap was created between the die and the screw press base. Once there is a gap, when the screw press presses the fake silver coins, the mold will slide, causing a pressing error, making the pressed silver coins a little skewed.

Also, the mold carving is also as rough as possible to make it look like it was made by hand. In addition to this, Marin ordered the engraving of hundreds of different rough steel money molds that were used to suppress fake French deniers.

After many adjustments, the craftsmen, under the command of Marin, finally mastered the trick, making the mechanical coins look rougher and closer to hand-made silver coins.

It is believed that after the successful creation of this batch of fake French silver coins worth 416,700 gold coins, Marin will definitely be able to make more than half of his profit. But this is secondary, because the market can only be more active if there is enough money.

Of course, these counterfeit coins were put on the French market, not the domestic market. What Marin has to do is to compete with the French official for seigniorage and to attack the French finances.

In order to disrupt the French market, Marin has asked the Paris branch of the North Sea Chamber of Commerce to secretly contact a large number of French financial businessmen. Then, through their hands, the counterfeit silver coins were exchanged for gold. Then, take it back to the German region, exchange it for real silver coins, and bring it back to Beihai for circulation.

In addition, these fake French silver coins cannot be distinguished by people of this era. Thus, Marin can use it to splurge on valuable goods in France.

For example, French wine is very marketable in Europe and can be bought as hard currency. Also, French war horses can also be bought with fake silver coins.

There is also the famous Charolais cattle in France...

Charolais cattle are a well-known large beef cattle even in later generations. The advantages of Charolais cattle are fast growth and large size. In later generations, this may not be a big deal, but in this era, it is an extremely important advantage.

why? Because in this era, cattle are not only used for meat, but also used to cultivate the land. It is clear that large cattle are more powerful than small cattle and are more suitable for farming.

Like the British Angus cattle, although they grow fast, they are not very large. The weight of an adult bull is only 500 to 700 kilograms.

Charolais cattle can grow to 500 kg in 12 months. An adult Charolais bull can weigh between 1,100 and 1,200 kg, almost double the weight of an Angus...

Of course, this is data for later generations. In this day and age, Charolais cattle data may not be so good. However, it must have great advantages as the female parent of famous cattle breeds in later generations.

By the way, the data of the cattle exported by the Crimeans are not very good. Therefore, Marin was thinking about the Charolais cattle in France.

Therefore, Marin intends to take advantage of the opportunity to mint fake French silver coins this time, exchange for French gold, and buy valuable French goods. And Charolais cattle, as an excellent breed for meat and draughts, is also one of Marin's important procurement targets. They bought them with fake silver coins, and slapped the French once...