Su ( French sou , Vietnamese xu ):
- a variant of the name of the French coin salt , equal to 12 denier , later 5 centimes ;
- Vietnamese bargaining unit equal to 1 ⁄ 100 Vietnamese Dong (since 1947) and South Vietnamese Dong (in 1955-1978).
- the former monetary unit of Lower Canada (1/2 penny) and the modern colloquial term for 1 Canadian cent (used in Quebec).
Content
- 1 France
- 2 Canada
- 3 Vietnam
- 4 In culture
- 5 Sources
France
Monetary unit and coin of the French Kingdom in the second half of the XIII-XVIII centuries. At first they were minted from silver , later from billon and copper . It was 1/20 livre (pound) or 12 denier . In connection with the transition of France to the decimal monetary system in 1795, it was replaced by a coin of 5 centimes , equal to 1/20 franc (the livre ceased to exist in 1799 ). However, before the transition of France to the euro , the people of 5 santims were often called “su”.
Today, the word "su" in France is also used in the meaning of "trifle".
Canada
After French Canada came under the control of the British administration, the term “su” was used on bank tokens in Lower Canada in the 1st half of the 19th century (see Canadian pound ) as a unit equal to 1/2 penny. On some early tokens, the denomination “su” is mistakenly written as sous (in the plural). On later tokens this error is fixed (the denomination is written as sou).
Currently, in the Quebec dialect of the French language, the term “su” is used as the equivalent of the Canadian cent (since the word cent in French means “hundred”, which can lead to misunderstanding).
Vietnam
The first su coins issued by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam are dated 1945. Then the coins in sou were issued: the Democratic Republic of Vietnam - in 1958, the Republic of Vietnam - in 1960 and 1963, the Republic of South Vietnam - in 1975.
In Culture
Mentioned in many literary works, including in the cycles of A. Dumas novels about musketeers , in Victor Hugo 's novel Les Miserables , 37 sr of Mr. Montodouin by E. M. Labisch. During the period of being in circulation and for some time it was mentioned in stable terms, for example, “Not a single sou ...”, “Spent everything until the last sou ...”.
Today, a coin is a numismatic rarity.