eccentrically1 wrote:did karl ever pay him the 4000?
Karl paid Bessler a total of 8000 Reichthalers, 4000 up front and another 4000 after completing and verifying that the wheel performed as agreed. It was the second payment of 4000 Reichthalers that Karl seemed reluctant to pay. Stewart posted details about the agreement back in 2008:
Stewart wrote:In August 1716 Karl & Bessler signed a contract which said that Bessler would immediately reveal his secret to Karl for the sum of 4000 Reichthalers, and it stipulates the details of what was expected of his device. It was agreed that Bessler would move to the castle in October 1716 and begin work on a new wheel which was to be finished no later than Easter 1717. Upon completion and after Karl had verified that the wheel worked as claimed by seeing the interior mechanism, he agreed to pay Bessler a further 4000 Reichthalers, taking the total price agreed for Bessler's secret to 8000 Reichthalers. The contract mentions other details, and also the appointment of Bessler as commercial councilor and his yearly salary of 200 Reichthalers.
So Karl's total payment for learning Bessler's secret was 8,000 Thalers, about 6,684 troy oz silver, which today would be worth about $150,506 US dollars or about €109,138 Euros.
There after a yearly salary of 200 Thalers, about $4,503 US dollars or about €3,266 Euros per year.
I calculate Karl's total payment to Bessler was the equivalent of about a quarter of a million dollars in today's money. But with a little imagination and a light sprinkling of fairy dust you could probably make it anything you want :D
ovyyus wrote:I calculate Karl's total payment to Bessler was the equivalent of about a quarter of a million dollars in today's money. But with a little imagination and a light sprinkling of fairy dust you could probably make it anything you want :D
Sorry to burst your bubble, Bill, but a Reichthaler was a specific weight of silver, set by the Reich (Kingdom). So when you take that same amount of silver and convert it into Dollars or Euros, then it equates to the values I've posted. The problem is that the values of gold and silver are currently being manipulated downward, thus making paper currency seem to have much greater value. When this manipulation ends, (probably starting 2014) the prices of gold and silver will rebound back upward to their more true value. At that time (about 2015) your quarter of a million dollar price will be quite accurate. And by 2020, the same amount of silver will probably be worth about $5 to $6 million worthless US dollars.
(I'm sorry, but again, I know what I'm talking about. I invest in precious metals, and deal with their values on a day to day basis. And I've researched the weight of the silver Reichthalers from Bessler's era. I'm also a coin collector.)
Bessler's asking price in 1715 was equivalent to about 20,000 British Pounds. In 2012, the purchasing power of 20,000 British Pounds from 1715 is worth £2,650,000 using the retail price index and £36,500,000 using average earnings.
Karl's payment to Bessler was equivalent to 1,600 British Pounds which in 2012 would be worth £212,000 using the retail price index and £2,920,000 using average earnings.
If Bessler’s wheel was just a charlatan’s sideshow, then there is ample evidence that the grift was worth his while at all stages, which would have lead him naturally in progression into the next part of the swindle.
Oystein wrote:He did not just give it up. While building the windmill he finalized a new sale and a new machine! He never gave up, just died a litle too early. Leibniz tested the waterscrew for 2 hours. I dont know if any official test included pumping?
OK, now we have it. Bessler was bumped off by MIB and alien time travellers.
If you think you have an overunity device, think again, there is no such thing. You might just possibly have an unexpectedly efficient device. In which case you will be abducted by MIB and threatened by aliens.
On Leibniz: It was something of a surprise to me, therefore when I discovered that he wrote many letters enquiring about the invention, and was able to visit Orffyreus and examine the machine on at least two occasions.
You quote is somewhat puzzling, it reads as though by a third person.
It was something of a surprise to me, therefore when I discovered that he wrote many letters enquiring about the invention, and was able to visit Orffyreus and examine the machine on at least two occasions.
Does Orffyreus write as though he is another character or is this authored by some one else?
