The term "piastre" (from it. Piastra, short for piaster d "argento, which translates as "silver tile") is used in some states.

Spanish and Mexican Piastre

Piastre is the name of the Mexican and Spanish, weighing 25 g, in Europe.

This coin began to be minted as early as 1497 of an irregular quadrangular shape. But since the 17th century, the piastres have already been produced in a round shape. Spanish piastre on the front side it had an image of the Spanish coat of arms with the inscription "R8" (meaning 8 reales), and on the back - a portrait of the king. The Mexican piastre had another inscription "Utraque Unum".

Since the 18th century, mints in America began to mint half-piasters, as well as ¼, 1/16 and 1/8 piasters.

Turkish (Ottoman) Piastre

The first piastre in Turkish lands was minted under Sultan Suleiman II back in 1687. This coin was minted from silver (face value of 20, 10, 5 and 2 piastres) and gold (500, 250, 100, 50 and 25 piastres).

The piastre was used in Turkish currency until 2005.

Indochinese piastre

This monetary unit was used on the territory of the French colonial possessions and protectorates, which were part of the Indochinese Union. The piastre was declared the national currency in Indochina in 1878. At the first stages, this monetary unit had to strictly correspond to the Mexican peso and contain no less than 24.5 g of pure silver in its composition.

In 1930, the gold content of the piastre of Indochina was established at 0.589 g of pure "solar metal".

After the occupation of French colonial possessions by Japan, Indochina was preserved. The Central Bank was under the leadership of the Vichy government. The following exchange rate of piastre to Japanese yen was set: 0.96:1.

The Indochinese piaster was the national currency of such independent states (after the liquidation of the French colonial possessions) as the Kingdom of Cambodia (1953-1955), the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1955-1957), the Kingdom of Laos (1953-1957).

Piastre and modernity

This monetary unit as of today is present in circulation on the territory of such states as:

• Egypt;
• Lebanon;
• Syria;
• Sudan;
• Jordan.

One Egyptian pound is divided into 100 piastres. This small coin is minted on the territory of the state with a face value of 5, 10, 25, 20 and 50 piastres.

Egypt also issues banknotes in denominations of 10, 25 and 50 piastres. It should be noted that the differences between banknotes with face value of 50 piastres and 50 pounds are minimal. Therefore, these banknotes are very often used in fraudulent transactions.

The Lebanese piastre is 1/100 of the Lebanese pound. In modern times, the Lebanese piastre can be of exceptional collection interest, since this small change coin has not been used in practice for a long time.

The Syrian pound or, in other words, the lira is divided into 100 piastres. The piastre is practically not used in circulation in this country due to its low purchasing power.

The Sudanese piaster, according to the 2007 monetary reform, is 1/100 of the Sudanese pound. The mint of this state mints coins with a face value of 1, 50, 20, 10 and 5 piastres. Coins with obverse value of 50 and 20 piastres are bimetallic.

If in any crossword puzzle you come across the question “What was the name of pirate money?”, Then, undoubtedly, without even counting the number of letters, you will say: piastres. Piastres are primarily associated with pirates due to cultural and artistic influences, but historically they have been just as popular with pirates as any other coin of any value. Let's take a look at what kind of money the pirates came across in their booty and what they were.

piastres

The piastre was also called the Spanish peso. This coin was minted from silver, its weight was about 25 grams. The Pillars of Hercules were depicted on the coin, so the piastres were also called pillar dollar or piastres with columns. In the East, the piastres had a more concise name - colonato. In our time, the piastre should not be written off, now it plays the role of a bargaining unit for 1/100 Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Syrian, Sudanese and South Sudanese pounds.

doubloons

The first doubloon (translated as "double", hence the name) was a Spanish gold coin with a face value of 2 escudos. The coinage began in 1566 and continued until 1849. Doubloons were widespread not only in Europe, but also in the New World. It was the doubloon that served as the prototype for the creation of many other European coins in other countries. During the colonization of the New World, the doubloon played the role assigned to the dollar in our time - it was he who was considered a reserve currency. For this reason, a large number of coins were hidden. Later, this fact of savings gave rise to many stories about pirate treasures, in which this type of coin often appears.

Escudo

Escudo is a Spanish gold coin. Years of minting: 1535-1833. The first coinage was made in Barcelona. The coin, as already mentioned, consisted of gold and weighed almost 3.4 grams. Under the reign of Philip II, the excudo coin became the main gold coin of Spain, and its rate, due to the increase in the price of metals, rose. But due to long wars and illiterate financial policy, Spain defaulted four times in the 16th century. The difficult economic situation was partly due to the large influx of metals from Spanish America, it was their oversupply that caused the escudo to become cheaper and caused inflation.

Conclusion

Piastres, doubloons and escudos are popular coins in the New World, which have become desirable prey for pirates. This trio does not make up even a tenth of all the coins minted in that period of time, but it is this trio that is often found in fiction and cinematographic works on the topic of piracy, therefore, first of all, it is about them that one who is interested in the history of sea robbery should learn more and numismatics. I hope this material has expanded your understanding of these topics.

Anyone who has read Robert Stevenson's wonderful story "Treasure Island" probably remembers the one-legged Silver and his parrot. The feathered companion of the pirate, being in a good mood, often shouted: “Piastres! Piasters! Piasters! What were these coins that the then gentlemen of fortune liked so much?

At the end of the 15th century, two significant events took place in the world. The first is the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus. The second is the beginning of the minting of silver coins in Spain, called pesos. The coin weighed 25 grams of silver and was equivalent to eight reales.

Just pieces of silver

Silver deposits were found in the new Spanish colonies. The richest of them were in Mexico. At first, the ships of the conquistadors transported the mined precious metal to the metropolis, where pesos were minted from them. But even in the New World, a voiced coin was needed.

Therefore, already in 1536, the first mint in America was opened in Mexico City, which began to mint money from silver mined here. The coins weighed the same as the pesos minted in Spain. But in terms of the quality of the coinage, they looked worse than the coins made in the Old World. There was a difference in the skill of the minters - real professionals in their field did not burn with a special desire to go to distant lands, and novice miners left for the New World.

Therefore, the money that came to Europe, minted in Mexico City, looked more like silver plates of various shapes. The mints of other European countries often used these Mexican pesos as blanks for minting their own coins. Fortunately, they contained pure silver and weighed exactly 25 grams. Pesos of the New World received the nickname piastres in Europe - short for piastra d "argento, which in Italian means "a tile (piece) of silver."

Millions and Billions

In general, the pesos minted at the mints of the Old and New Worlds became known as piastres. And these coins were minted in huge quantities. Suffice it to say that they were made at eleven mints in America and Europe. There were plenty of raw materials for minting - silver mining in Mexico reached almost 2/3 of the world production of this precious metal and was ten times higher than silver mining in all European mines.

Therefore, it is not surprising that silver pesos, or piastres, in large quantities fell into the chests of pirates who robbed Spanish caravans heading from Mexico to the metropolis. More than 3 billion piastres were produced from Mexican silver between 1587 and 1888. Some of them were used for the minting of their coins by the mints of Europe. Throughout America, from the beginning of its colonization until the 19th century, Spanish-Mexican pesos were the main monetary unit.

Interestingly, the peso became the currency of not only the Spanish colonies. In Portuguese Brazil, the peso was called the pataca, and in English-speaking North America, the Spanish or Mexican dollar, although the Spaniards themselves never called their currency a dollar. The piastres also reached the Pacific Ocean. The Viceroyalty of New Spain, which included the colonies of Spain in North America, also included the Spanish East Indies (the Asian-Pacific colonies of Spain), where the peso was also used as money. After independence, almost all of the former Spanish colonies and other countries that used the peso created their new currency on the model of the Spanish-Mexican peso with the same silver content and either left the name "peso" or gave this currency a new name.

Dispersed everywhere

Piasters can be considered the "parents" of the US dollar. The fact is that after the proclamation of independence on July 4, 1776 by the United States of America, the Spanish dollar (peso) was recognized as the official currency of the United States, and only in 1794 did the United States begin to mint its own silver dollar, which was equal to the Spanish dollar (peso) and had approximately the same silver content.

In addition to Spanish-Mexican pesos, Danish pesos were also called piastres. silver coins(about 25 grams of silver), issued in 1624 and in 1771-1777, Ottoman (Turkish) silver coins (about 20 grams of silver), issued in 1687 by Sultan Suleiman II (the Turkish name for coins is kurush), silver coins (14 , 5-17 grams of silver), issued in the Crimea in 1780-1782 by Khan Shagin Giray.

In France, in 1886, an Indochinese piastre containing about 27 grams of silver was issued for use as money in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. In South Vietnam, the Indochinese piastre was the official currency until 1957. The French-speaking population of Canada often refers to the Canadian dollar as piastres. The piastre is the modern coin of Egypt.

Igor PAVLOV

Anyone who has read Robert Stevenson's wonderful story "Treasure Island" probably remembers the one-legged Silver and his parrot. The feathered companion of the pirate, being in a good mood, often shouted: “Piastres! Piasters! Piasters! What were these coins that the then gentlemen of fortune liked so much?

At the end of the 15th century, two significant events took place in the world. The first is the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus. The second is the beginning of the minting of silver coins in Spain, called pesos. The coin weighed 25 grams of silver and was equivalent to eight reales.

Just pieces of silver

Silver deposits were found in the new Spanish colonies. The richest of them were in Mexico. At first, the ships of the conquistadors transported the mined precious metal to the metropolis, where pesos were minted from them. But even in the New World, a voiced coin was needed.

Therefore, already in 1536, the first mint in America was opened in Mexico City, which began to mint money from silver mined here. The coins weighed the same as the pesos minted in Spain. But in terms of the quality of the coinage, they looked worse than the coins made in the Old World. There was a difference in the skill of the minters - real professionals in their field did not burn with a special desire to go to distant lands, and novice miners left for the New World.

Therefore, the money that came to Europe, minted in Mexico City, looked more like silver plates of various shapes. The mints of other European countries often used these Mexican pesos as blanks for minting their own coins. Fortunately, they contained pure silver and weighed exactly 25 grams. Pesos of the New World received the nickname piastres in Europe - short for piastra d "argento, which in Italian means "a tile (piece) of silver."

Millions and Billions

In general, the pesos minted at the mints of the Old and New Worlds became known as piastres. And these coins were minted in huge quantities. Suffice it to say that they were made at eleven mints in America and Europe. There were plenty of raw materials for minting - silver mining in Mexico reached almost 2/3 of the world production of this precious metal and was ten times higher than silver mining in all European mines.

Therefore, it is not surprising that silver pesos, or piastres, in large quantities fell into the chests of pirates who robbed Spanish caravans heading from Mexico to the metropolis. More than 3 billion piastres were produced from Mexican silver between 1587 and 1888. Some of them were used for the minting of their coins by the mints of Europe. Throughout America, from the beginning of its colonization until the 19th century, Spanish-Mexican pesos were the main monetary unit.

Interestingly, the peso became the currency of not only the Spanish colonies. In Portuguese Brazil, the peso was called the pataca, and in English-speaking North America, the Spanish or Mexican dollar, although the Spaniards themselves never called their currency a dollar. The piastres also reached the Pacific Ocean. The Viceroyalty of New Spain, which included the colonies of Spain in North America, also included the Spanish East Indies (the Asian-Pacific colonies of Spain), where the peso was also used as money. After independence, almost all of the former Spanish colonies and other countries that used the peso created their new currency on the model of the Spanish-Mexican peso with the same silver content and either left the name "peso" or gave this currency a new name.

Dispersed everywhere

Piasters can be considered the "parents" of the US dollar. The fact is that after the proclamation of independence on July 4, 1776 by the United States of America, the Spanish dollar (peso) was recognized as the official currency of the United States, and only in 1794 did the United States begin to mint its own silver dollar, which was equal to the Spanish dollar (peso) and had approximately the same silver content.

In addition to the Spanish-Mexican pesos, Danish silver coins (about 25 grams of silver) issued in 1624 and in 1771-1777, Ottoman (Turkish) silver coins (about 20 grams of silver) issued in 1687 by Sultan Suleiman II ( the Turkish name for the coins is kurush), silver coins (14.5-17 grams of silver) issued in the Crimea in 1780-1782 by Khan Shagin Giray.

In France, in 1886, an Indochinese piastre containing about 27 grams of silver was issued for use as money in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. In South Vietnam, the Indochinese piastre was the official currency until 1957. The French-speaking population of Canada often refers to the Canadian dollar as piastres. The piastre is the modern coin of Egypt.