Contents:
Did you know that dollar originated from the
word valley?
In the 1500's, Count Hieronymus Schlick, of Bohemia, began minting
coins known as Joachimstalers. The name came from the Joachimstal,
which was the valley (tal) where the coins were minted. The
name was later shortened to taler. Eventually, this word evolved
to daler in Denmark and Sweden, to daaler in the Netherlands
and to daelder in Flemish. In Ethiopia it became talari, and in
Italy tallero. Eventually, it found its way into English,
where it became dollar. The dollar is the name of the currency of
the USA, Singapore and Taiwan
Other currencies derive etymologically from the concept of
weight. Take for instance pound, the currency of the United Kingdom
and Egypt. Etymologically, it derived from the Latin pondo, the
ablative of pondus, weight).
The currency of Israel, the schekel (New Schekel), is
also based on weight (Hebrew unit equal to about 252 grains troy; a unit of
value based on a shekel weight of gold or silver).
The peso, currency of Argentina, Chile, Colombia,
Mexico and the Philippines, is based on the Latin pnsum (something
weighed, from neuter past participle of pendere, to weigh).
Similarly, the lira, used today in Italy and Turkey,
derives from the Latin libra, a unit of weight.
References:
National Geographic, Vol.
2001 No. 6 June 2002
Merriam Webster Dictionary
Pocket World in Figures 2002 Edition, The Economist in Association with
Profile Books LTD.
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