The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-11-11
NAMES OF COINS.

! The form, one of the most famous of
modern coins, originated in Florence.
Some say it gave the name to the city,
while Others assert that it was first So
called because it had on it a fleur de us,
from the Italian florone or flower" for
the same reason that an English silver
piece is called "crOwn." or certain
gold pieces in France indifferently a
''NapOlean" or Louis" or $40 gold
pieces in America an ''eagle."
For several hundred years, and down
to comparatively recent date, money
was coined at from twenty-five to thirty
different cities in France that had inner
tied the privilege. Now all French
money is coined at the Paris mint.
Few French pieces are, however, in
circulation, except those bearing the
head of Napoleon III, 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 Y,
Louis XVII, 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 florin, in Germany the mark,
in Russia the ruble.
Belgium and Switzerald use the
French name for the piece of twenty
sous. Each of these pieces is, like the
American dollar, divided into 100 parts
called kopeck in Russia, pfenhig in Ger
many, Kreutzer in Austria, cent in Hol-
land, and in Italy, France and Spain by
the word meaning hundredth.
The word shilling is of German der
ivatiOn, like penny, which comes from
the German 'pfennig." The word
'crOwn" 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 "Le Roi Frank
(king of the Franks), and were of two
kinds, one representing the king on
horseback, the other on foot.
The franc was formerly also called the
livre (pound), though the connection
with any special weight is not evident.
The name of the German coin, mark,
formerly in general use in Europe.
The name of the Italian coin that
corresponds with the franc Qira) also
means pound. The coins, in present use
in Spain, have their names from other
sources. The piece which corresponds
with the American dollar is called escude
(shield).
''Peseta," the name of the small coin,
representing the monetary standard,
means simply ''little piece" "Rubie''
is from the word meaning ito cut" and
was SO called because originally 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 that
valley and came into use in this way
some 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 au-
thorized this city in the sixteenth CEN
fury to coin silver piece which was
called "Joachimthaler." The word
Joachim" was soon dropped, and the
word 'thaler' only retained.
The piece went into general use in
Germany and Denmark, where the or
biography 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 appellation is incorrect in either
case for the word plaster or piastre has
for the last fifty years been only APP
piled with correctness to small silver
coin used in Turkey or Egypt, which is
worth from five to eight cents.-ChicdgO
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