Piastre (from Italian. Piastra d'argento - silver tile) is the name adopted in Europe for the Spanish and Spanish-American silver coin " peso " ( isp. Peso ), equal to eight reals ; hence the other Spanish name peso de ocho and its English name piece of eight - octagon [1] [2] [3] [4] .
Another common English name of the coin is the piastre with columns, the pillar dollar ( born Pillar Dollar ), which comes from the Hercules pillars depicted on the coin [5] [3] . In the East, the coin was also called colonato or colonato [6] .
The coin could be divided into eight ( English bit ) or four parts ( English quarter ). This is where the American names of the small changeable 25-cent coin - “quarter” ( quarter ) and “two bits” ( two pieces ) originated .
Piastre, up to the 19th century, played the role of a trading coin , competing in Levant with Löwendalder and Thaler Maria Theresa . In Prussia, under King Frederick II (1740-1786), piastres of the Royal Prussian Asian Company were minted for trade with the countries of Southeast Asia. Denmark in 1624 produced piastres depicting the Danish coat of arms, and in 1771-1777 with the coats of arms of Denmark and Norway, placed between the Hercules pillars.
Piastras were called the monetary units of a number of Italian states: the Tuscan piastre, the Neapolitan piastre , the Sicilian piastre , the piastre of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , the piastre of the Papal States , etc.
In 1687, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman II began issuing a silver coin kurush , equal to 40 pairs , also called the "Turkish piastre." A 40-pair silver coin minted in 1780–1782 by the Crimean Khan Shahin Gerai was called the “Crimean Piastre”.
In the years 1879-1955, the piastre was the small currency of Cyprus , equal to 1 ⁄ 180 Cypriot pounds .
In 1878–86, the Kokhinkha piastre was produced for the French colony of Cochinchina , then replaced by the Indochinese piastre , which became the monetary unit of all French Indochina .
In the French-speaking regions of America, silver coins in Mexican pesos and other corresponding coins were called piastres ( US dollar , British 5 shillings , and later - Canadian dollar ). The nominal value of paper "army bills" issued during the Anglo-American War of 1812 was indicated in three units: dollars, piastres and shillings (dollar = piastre = 5 shillings) [7] . Piastres are mentioned in Art. 21 of the current version of the French text of the Canadian Constitutional Law of 1867 [8] . The denomination of banknotes of some Canadian banks issued in the 19th — early 20th centuries (Banque d'Hochelsga, Banque Jacques Cartier, Banque Nationale, and others) was indicated in two languages: in English — in dollars, in French — in piastres [9] .
At the beginning of the 20th century, piastres (in French) indicated the denomination of bank notes issued in China by French and Belgian banks (Banque Belge pour l'Etranger, Sino-Belgian Bank, Banque de l'Indochine), simultaneously with the denomination in English - in dollars (dollar) and Chinese - in yuan (圓) [10] .
At present, the Piastre are called exchangeable monetary units, which are 1/100 of the Egyptian pound , Jordanian dinar , Lebanese pound , Syrian pound , Sudanese pound and South Sudanese pound .
Tuscan Piastre 1678
Neapolitan Piastre 1791
Piastre of the Kingdom of Both Sicilies (120 grano ) of 1859
Indochinese piastre of 1885
10 Egyptian piastres of 1964
10 Jordanian Piastres 2000
10 Lebanese piastres 1955
Notes
- ↑ Zvarych, 1980 , article “ Piastr ”, p. 94-95.
- ↑ Krivtsov, 2005 , p. 336.
- ↑ 1 2 Fengler, 1993 , p. 251.
- ↑ Piastre Spanish and Mexican // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 t. (82 tons and 4 extra.). - SPb. , 1890-1907. - T. XXIIIa. - p. 773.
- ↑ Krivtsov, 2005 , p. 209, 338.
- ↑ Fengler, 1993 , article “ Kolonnato ”, p. 132.
- ↑ Cuhaj, 2013 , pp. 182-183.
- ↑ Loi Constitutionel 1867 (Fr.)
- ↑ Cuhaj, 2013 , pp. 204-291.
- ↑ Cuhaj, 2013 , pp. 318-320, 344.
Literature
- Zvarych V.V. Numismatic dictionary . - 3rd ed .. - Lviv: High School, 1980.
- Krivtsov V.V. Encyclopedic Reference Book for Numismatists. - M .: Avers (No. 7), 2005. - 830 p.
- Fengler H., Girou G., Unger V. Numismatist Dictionary / Ed. ed. V.M. Potin . - 2nd ed., Pererab. and additional .. - M .: Radio and communication, 1993. - ISBN 5-256-00317-8 .
- Cuhaj GS Standard Catalog of World Paper Money. Specialized issues .. - 12th ed. - Iola: Krause Publications, 2013. - 1296 p. - ISBN 978-1-4402-3883-3 .