Lira ( Greek λίρα , lat. Libra - pound ) - the name of the currency in a number of countries. It is currently the national currency of Turkey . Monetary units of Lebanon and Syria (and, until recently, of Cyprus , which has already switched to the euro) are usually called pound in Russian , but in the original (in Greek and Turkish in Cyprus, in Arabic in Lebanon and Syria) are also called lira .
Until recently, the Italian lira was the national currency of Italy , the Vatican , San Marino , Malta had its own lira (all four countries switched to the euro ). In Turkey, the lira as a coin was first introduced in the 1870s, and since 2005 has been replaced by a new Turkish lira .
In Israel , the Israeli pound , also called the Israeli lira ( Hebrew לירה הישראלית ), was used as the local currency from September 9, 1952 to February 24, 1980. In Hebrew, the word lyre ( Heb. לירה ) means pound; the currency was named after the currency of the mandated English territory - the Palestinian pound ( Hebrew לירה ארץ ישראלית , English Palestinian Pound ), which had been circulating in Palestine since 1927. Until 1927, the Egyptian pound was in circulation in Palestine .
The term lira comes from the name of the measure of weight - the troy pound , used to weigh silver .
See also
- Turkish Lira Symbol