![Woodcut headpiece with floral scrollwork ornaments]

MONETARY

PARADOXES.

I.

Today's honest people / even if they do not wish to become scoundrels / must necessarily be scoundrels; for he who does not trade The original German "wechselt" refers to the practice of money-changing and speculating on the fluctuating value of coins. / must go bankrupt original: "pancrottieren.".

II.

That, although the Paracelsians Followers of Paracelsus who sought the "philosopher's stone" to transmute base metals into gold or silver. consider it a mystery to make silver out of copper, every mint-master Müntzer: officials or workers at a mint; here, they are accused of "alchemy" by diluting silver coins with massive amounts of copper. knows how to do it.

III.

That a messenger carrying money in these times can be worth as much as a horse was five years ago.

IV.

That one who lent a thousand [units of currency] thirty years ago may, with a good conscience, demand ten thousand back, and yet will not be any richer, but rather suffers a loss. An illustration of the era's extreme inflation; the face value of the debt increased tenfold, but its actual purchasing power still declined.

V.

That a poor money-changer Wechsler: a person who exchanged various regional currencies, often profiting from the chaos of the debasement. has more than a rich nobleman.

VI.

That the mint-masters wear gold upon their clothes, while the noblemen carry copper in their purses.

VII.

That, according to the cursed art of minting, Elisha A reference to the biblical story in 2 Kings 6:6, where the prophet Elisha made a heavy iron axe head float on water. performed a poor miracle; for today, copper can easily float upon the water without a prophet. The author suggests that the new coins are so "light" (debased and worthless) that they might as well be able to float, mocking their lack of precious metal content.

VIII.