Silver was money in Hamburg for 250 years

Steffen Krug (http://www.ifaam-institut.de/ ) talks to James Turk about the monetary history of Hamburg and its 250 years of 100% reserve silver banking with the Mark Banco until Bismarck replaced it with the Goldmark in 1873. To Napoleon's surprise Hamburg actually kept more than 100% reserve backing, being the only bank in Europe to do so. The Mark Banco was equivalent to 8.5 grams of silver. They also discuss how traditionally banking was divided into two different businesses: commercial or transaction focused banks on the one hand and deposit taking loan-making investment banks on the other, whereas today both functions are dangerously mixed. The interview was recorded on 14 May 2011 in Hamburg, Germany.