One can bank on the fact that most coins derive from Latin words and are named after people,
places, or things. Even the word coin translates from the Latin "cuneus," meaning wedge, because early coins
ressembled the wedges the dies used to coin coins. The cent which derives from the Latin "centum," meaning one
hundred, the dime from the Latin "decimus," meaning tenth, and the French franc from the Latin "Franconium Rex,"
meaning King of the Franks, are all examples of the naming of money, the root of all evil, which translates from
the Latin word "mona," meaning to warn!
Physical weight was another manner in which people named their coins. The English pound
translates from the Latin "pondo" meaning pound, or, to get more heavily into detail, from the Latin "libra pondo"
meaning a pound of weight. This method of naming coins weighed heavily in naming of the Spanish peso and of the
Italian lira. A sense of fairness dictates that some coins bear the names of the metals of which they are
composed. Thus, the nickel is made of nickel. Location sometimes figures prominently into the naming of some
coins. The dollar, not always in paper form, originally hailed from the silver mines of Bohemia, where Bohemians
extracted silver for the coins and minted them in the town of Joachimsthal. Realizing that the coin they termed
the Joachimsthaler, short of lacking in creativity, was rather lengthy, our Bohemian friends lost the head of
the name and kept the tail, with the end result being the thaler. The thaler eventually lost its lisp and became
the dollar.
Many countries used their word for crown, for example, crown, sovereign, krone, krun, krone,
corona (not the beer), to demonstrate that some crown authority initially granted permission to mint them. Other
countries named coins in honor of their heros, such as the Panamanian balboa, after the explorer Balboa, the
Venezuelan bolivar, after one of it's national heros, and the Peruvian sol, also not a beer, but the Spanish
word for sun, after this ancient Incan object of worship.
Many of the words we associate with money today come from ancient uses of currency. Examining
where these words came from helps us understand how currency systems developed.
| Coin |
Description |
| Coin |
Description |
| (Anonymous) follis, pl. (anonymous) folles | Bronze Byzantine coin |
| Antoninianus, pl. antoniniani | Silver (or, later, billon) Roman coin |
| Argenteus, pl. argentei | Silver Late Roman coin |
| As, pl. asses | Bronze Roman coin |
| Aurelianianus, pl. aurelianiani | Billon Roman coin |
| Aureus or denarius aureus, pl. aurei or denarii aurei | Gold Roman coin |
| Basilikon, pl. basilika | Silver Late Byzantine coin |
| [Billon] aspron trachy or stamenon, pl. [billon] aspra trachea or stamena | Silver-wash billon (or, later, silver-wash bronze) Byzantine coin |
| Chalkous, pl. chalkoi | Bronze Hellenic coin |
| Daric, pl. darics | Gold Persian coin |
| Decadrachm, pl. decadrachms | Silver Hellenic coin |
| Denarius, pl. denarii | Silver (or, later, billon) Roman coin |
| Denier, pl. deniers | Silver (medieval) West European coin |
| Deutschmark, pl. Deutschmarks | Modern German coin |
| Dinar, pl. dinars | Gold (medieval) Arab coin |
| Dirham or dirhem, pl. dirhams or dirhems | Silver (medieval) Arab coin |
| Distater, pl. distaters | Gold Hellenic coin |
| Double victoriatus, pl. double victoriati | Silver Roman - Hellenic coin |
| Drachm, pl. drachms | Silver Hellenic coin |
| Ducalis or ducatus (argenti), pl. ducales or ducati (argenti) | Silver (medieval) West European coin |
| Ducatus (aurei), pl. ducati (aurei) | Gold (medieval) West European coin |
| Dupondius, pl. dupondii | Bronze Roman coin |
| Eight reales | Silver (early modern) Spanish or Latin American coin |
| [Electrum] aspron trachy, pl. [electrum] aspra trachea | Electrum Byzantine coin |
| Fals, pl. fulus | Bronze (medieval) Arab or Turkoman coin |
| Follaro, pl. follari | Bronze (medieval) South Italian coin |
| Follis, pl. folles | Bronze Byzantine coin |
| Gros tournois or groat, pl. gros tournois or groats | Silver (medieval) West European coin |
| Guinea, pl. guineas | Gold (early modern) British coin |
| Half-siliqua, pl. half-siliquae | Silver Late Roman, Byzantine and (medieval) West European coin |
| Half-tetarteron, pl. half-tetartera | Bronze Byzantine coin |
| Hexagrammon, pl. hexagramma | Silver Byzantine coin |
| Histamenon, pl. histamena | Gold Byzantine coin |
| Hyperpyron or (Lat.) perperum, pl. hyperpyra or (Lat.) perpera | Gold (or, later, electrum) Byzantine coin |
| [Light weight] solidus, pl. [light weight] solidi | Gold Byzantine coin |
| Livre, pl. livres | Silver (early modern) French coin |
| Maria Theresa thaler, pl. Maria Theresa thalers | Silver (early modern) Austro-Hungarian coin |
| Miliarensis or miliarense, pl. miliarenses | Silver Late Roman coin |
| Miliaresion, pl. miliaresia | Silver Byzantine coin |
| Nummus or ‘follis', pl. nummi or ‘folles' | Silver-wash billon or bronze Late Roman coin |
| Nummus (minimus), pl. nummi (minimi) | Bronze Late Roman coin |
| Obol, pl. obols | Silver Hellenic coin |
| Quinarius (argenteus), pl. quinarii (argentei) | Silver (or, later, billon) Roman coin |
| Quinarius (aureus), pl. quinarii (aurei) | Gold Roman coin |
| Semis, pl. semisses | Bronze Roman coin |
| Semissis, pl. semisses | Gold Late Roman and Byzantine coin |
| Sestertius, pl. sestertii | Bronze Roman coin |
| Shilling, pl. shillings | Silver (early modern and modern) British coin |
| Siglos, pl. sigloi | Silver Persian coin |
| Siliqua or keration, pl. siliquae or keratia | Silver Late Roman, Byzantine and (medieval) West European coin |
| Solidus or nomisma, pl. solidi or nomismata | Gold Late Roman and Byzantine coin |
| Sovereign, pl. sovereigns | Gold (modern) British coin |
| Stater [gold], pl. staters [gold] | Gold Hellenic coin |
| Stater [silver], pl. staters [silver] | Silver Hellenic coin |
| Stavraton, pl. stavrata | Silver Late Byzantine coin |
| Tari, pl. tari | Gold (medieval) South Italian coin |
| Tetarteron or tarteron [bronze], pl. tetartera or tartera | Bronze Byzantine coin |
| Tetarteron [gold], pl. tetartera [gold] | Gold Byzantine coin |
| Tetradrachm, pl. tetradrachms | Silver Hellenic coin |
| Tetrobol, pl. tetrobols | Silver Hellenic coin |
| Trachy, pl. trachea | Electrum or billon Byzantine coin |
| Tremissis, pl. tremisses | Gold Late Roman, Byzantine and (medieval) West European coin |
| Triobol or hemidrachm, pl. triobols or hemidrachms | Silver Hellenic coin |
| Trite, pl. trites | Silver Hellenic coin |
| Victoriatus, pl. victoriati | Silver Roman coin |