The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-08-02
THE NAMES OF COINS.
Derivation and Significance OF the
Various Terms
Interesting Facts Concerning the None
sary Standards Of the Different Ma
tions-Wher the American
Dollar Got Its Name.
The form. one of the most famous o.;

The form, one of the most famous OF
modern coins, originated n Florence.
says the New York Ho, Journal.
Some say thst it gave the name to the
city, while Others assert tl-1t it was
first SO called because it d on 1t
feur-de-iis. from the Italian liorone, or
flower" for the same reason that an
English silver piece is called Crown"
or certain gold pieces In france indiffer-
entity Napoleon or Louis or the
ten dollar gold piece In America an
eagle
For several hundred years, and down
to q comparatively recent date, money
was coined at from twenty-five to thirtJ
different cities in France that had IL
herited the privilege. Now all French
money is coined at the Paris mint. Few
French gold pieces are. ho--ever. in cir
culation except those bea---s - he'd
OF Napoleon Ill, and silver pieces OF
the same coinage are almost as COM
mon. French silver coins wear admira-
bly,, and pieces of the reign of Charles
", Louis XVIII. and Napoleon l. are
very common
The standard coins on the continent
are: In France, the franc; in Spain, the
peseta; in Italy. the Ira; in Holland and
Austria, the form; in Germany, the
mark; in Russia, the ruble.
Belgium and Switzerland use the
French name for the piece OF twenty
sous. Each of these pieces is, like the
American dollar, divided into one hun
dred parts, called kopeck in Russia,
pfennig in Germany, kreutzer in Aus
tria, cent in Holland, and in Italy, France
and Spain by the word meaning hum
dredth.
The word shilling is of German ded-
walton, like penny, which comes from
the German ''pfennig," The word
Grown" comes from the image placed
on the coin. The name franc was given
by King John, who first coined these
pieces in 1860. They bore the motto
lie Roi Frank" Qking of the FranlSs),
and were of two kinds, one represent
ing the king on horseback, the other
on foot. The franc was formerly also
called hvre (pound), though the connec-
ton with any special weight is not evil
dent. The name of the German coin,
mark, meaning a weight of eight
ounces, was formerly in general use in
Europe. The name of the Italian coin
that corresponds with the franc Qira)
also means pound. The coins in pres
ent use in Spain have their names from
other sources. The cfive-peseta piece,
which corresponds with the American
dollar, is called escudo (shield). ''Pese-
ta," the name of the small coin rep
resenting the monetary standard,
means simply, little piece" ''Ruble"
is from the word meaning ''to cut"
the coin was made with an ornamental
edge.
Few persons have ever troubled them
selves to think of the derivation of the
word dollar. 1t is FROM the German
thai valley and came into use this
way about three hundred years ago.
There is little silver mining city or
district in northern Bohemia called
Joachimsthal, or Joachim's valley. The
reigning duke of the region authorized
this city in the sixteenth century to
coin a silver piece which was called
'Joachimthaler." The word Joachim"
was soon dropped, and the name
''thaler'' only continued. The place
went into general use in Germany and
Denmark, where the orthography was
changed to 'daler," whence it came
into English, and was adopted by the
Americans with still further changes in
the spelling. The Mexican dollar is
generally called ''piastre" in France,
and the name is sometimes applied TO
the United States dollar. The appella-
ton is incorrect in either case, for the
word plaster Tor piastre) has for the
last fifty years been only applied with
correctness to small silver coin used
in Turkey or Egypt, which Is worth
from five TO eight cents