The morning call., 1892-11-18
NAMES OF COINS.
Interesting Information Compiled From
rlany Sources.

Queens Magazine.
The form, one OF the most famous of
modern coins. originated in Florence. Some
say that il gave the name TO the city, while
others assert that it was first so called be-
cause IL had on it a fieur de lis, from the
Italian flOroDe or flower" for the same
reason that an English silver piece is called
"frowD," or certain gold pieces in France
indfferenty Napoleon or Louis" or
the ten-dollar gold piece in America an
"eagle."
For several hundred years. and down TO a
comparatively recent date, according TO the
Home journal. money was coined at from
twenty-five TO thirty different cities in
France that had Inherited the privilege.
Now all French money is coined ct the
Paris mint.
Few French gold pieces are, however, in
circulation, except those bearing the head
OF Napoleon III. and silver pieces of the
same coinage are almost as common.
French silver coins wear admirably, and
pieces OF the reign Of Charles Y. Louis
XVII and Napoleon ] are very common.
The standard coins on the continent are:
In France, the franc; in Spain. the peseta !;
IN Italy, the Ira; In Holland ana Austria,
the form in Germany, the mark; in Rus
STA. the rubie.
Belgium and Switzerland use the French
name for the piece Of twenty sous. Each
Of these pieces is, like the American dollar,
divided into 100 parts. lied kOpeck in
Russia, pfennig 10 Germany, kreutzer in
Austria, cent in Holland and Italy, France
and Spain by the word meaning hundredth.
The word shilling Is Of German deriya-
lion, 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 FranRs) and were of two kinds.
one representing the King on horseback,
the other On foot
The franc was formerly also called the
livTe (pound), though the connection with
any special weight is not evident 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 corre-
spends with the franc Qira) also means
pound. The coins in present use in Spain
have their names from other sources. The
hye-cent piece. which corresponds with the
American dollar. is called escude Shield.
Peseta, the name OF the small coin rep-
resenting the monetary standard, means
simply little piece" "Ruble" is from the
word meaning ito cut" aud 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 thai (yalley)
and came into use in this way some 800
years ago. There is little silver mining
city or district In Northern Bohemia called
JoachimSthal, Joachms Valley.
The reigning Duke of the region author
lied the cityiin the sixteenth century 10 coin
a silver piece which was called Joachim
thaler." The word Joachim" was soon
dropped and the word ''thaer" only re-
tanned.
The piece went into general use in Ger
many and Denmark. where the orthography
was changed to 'daler," whence il came
into English, and was adopted by the
Americans with still further change in the
spelling. The Mexican dollar is generally
called ''piastre" in France, and the name i
sometimes applied to the United States
dollar.
The appellation is incorrect in either case
for the word plaster or piastre has for ina
last fifty years been only applied with cor
RICHNESS to small silver coin used in
Turkey or Egypt, which is worth from five
To eight Cents