Every day, taking out bills from their wallet and paying them for certain goods, few people think about why the ruble is called the ruble and the dollar is called the dollar. This overview presents the origin of the names of the most famous currencies.
Russian ruble
There is no consensus on the origin of the word "ruble". The only thing scientists agree on is its connection with the cognate word "cut." The first mention of the name in written sources occurs in 1316. The ruble was viewed as a half "stump of the hryvnia". Others tend to believe that the "ruble" is a modified form of the Indian rupee.
Silver ruble from the time of Catherine the Great.
Soviet rubles.
American dollar
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According to historical records, in the Bohemian city of Joachimstahl, there were mines where silver was mined. The coins that began to be minted there were given the appropriate name "Joachimstaler", which was later shortened simply to "thaler". And immigrants from the Old World to America gradually transformed “thaler” into “dollar”.
Obverse and reverse of the American dollar.
Pound sterling
The British pound takes its name from the Latin poundus, which means weight. Small silver coins were called sterlings. According to one of the versions, the concept "easterling silver" was used earlier, referring to the coins of the trading region in Germany Easterling.
British pound sterling.
The local businessmen had a representative office in London, where they paid with their high quality coins. Since 1158, the British officially began to use a similar alloy for their money. The name has been simplified to "sterling silver", that is, "coin silver".
CNY
The meaning of the name of this currency is quite simple. Yuan translates as "round coin". By the way, the Japanese yen and the Korean won are all the same derivatives of the yuan.
Ukrainian hryvnia
Scientists tend to associate the name "hryvnia" with "hryvnia" - an ornament on the neck, which consisted of gold plates. They could also be used as legal tender. In Kievan Rus, the hryvnia had three meanings: a measure of weight, an insignia (decoration) and a coin.
Polish zloty
Everything is pretty obvious with the Polish currency. "Zloty" means "gold". The first zlotys were minted in the 15th century.
1 zloty coin of 1929.
20 zloty bill. Obverse.
Kazakhstani tenge
The name "tenge" originates from the Turkic silver coins "dengue" or "tanga", which were used in the Middle Ages. From there the word "money" came from.
Crown
The name "crown" is very easy to decipher. It comes from the Latin corona, which means "crown" in Russian. Crowns are used to pay in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and the Czech Republic. Until 2011, the national currency in Estonia was also the crown.