Lira

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Italian lira 1863
Vittorio Emanuele II	Coat of arms of the House of Savoy

Lira (Pound) is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries, as well as the former currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino and the Vatican City (replaced in 1999 with the euro). The term originates from the value of a Troy pound (Latin libra) of high purity silver, and as such is a direct cognate of the British pound sterling; in some countries, such as Cyprus, the words lira and pound are used as equivalents. L, sometimes in a double-crossed script form (₤) or less often single-crossed (£), is usually used as the symbol.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Current uses 2.1 Turkey 2.2 Lebanon 2.3 Syria 2.4 Jordan 3 Former currencies 4 External links

[edit] Etymology

The word Libra developed its Lira shape from Italian, a language famed for its loss of initial consonants in two-part clusters (i.e., Doctor = dottore). Evidence of this still exists in Great Britain and the USA where pound is a weight measurement, and represented by letters lb.

[edit] Current uses

[edit] Turkey

The Turkish lira was introduced in the mid 1870s. The New Turkish Lira, equivalent to 1,000,000 old lira, was issued on January 1, 2005. The "New" was dropped with the minting of currency after January 1, 2009. Turkish Lira is the currency of Turkey and Northern Cyprus.

[edit] Lebanon

The Lebanese pound is called "lira or livre" in local languages.

[edit] Syria

The Syrian pound is called "lira" in national language of Syria, Arabic.

[edit] Jordan

A widely-used name of Jordanian dinar is lira.

Also:
The Bulgarian language refers to the English pound as lira (or occasionally paund to reflect English phonology) in opposition to Croatian which refers to the Italian as liri and the English as funti (from German).

[edit] Former currencies

• Cyprus pound (called "lira" in local languages)
• Israeli lira
• Italian lira
• Italian East African lira
• Italian Somaliland lira
• Maltese lira
• Neapolitan lira
• Sammarinese lira
• Tripolitanian lira
• Vatican lira
• Pound (currency) cognate
• French livre cognate
• Turkish lira cognate

[edit] External links

• Overview of Italian lira from the BBC

v • d • e Currencies named pound or similar Current Egyptian pound · Falkland Islands pound · Gibraltar pound · Guernsey pound · Jersey pound · Lebanese pound · Manx pound · Pound sterling · Saint Helena pound · Sudanese pound · Syrian pound Defunct Alderney pound · Anglo-Saxon pound · Australian pound · Bahamian pound · Bermudian pound · Biafran pound · British West African pound · Canadian pound · Connecticut pound · Cypriot pound · Delaware pound · Fijian pound · French livre · Gambian pound · Georgia pound · Ghanaian pound · Haitian livre · Italian lira · Irish pound · Israeli lira · Jamaican pound · Libyan pound · Livre tournois · Malawian pound · Maltese pound · Maltese lira · Maryland pound · Massachusetts pound · New Brunswick pound · New France livre · New Guinean pound · New Hampshire pound · New Jersey pound · New York pound · New Zealand pound · Newfoundland pound · Nigerian pound · North Carolina pound · Nova Scotian pound · Oceanian pound · Palestinian pound · Paris livre · Pennsylvania pound · Pound Scots · Prince Edward Island pound · Rhode Island pound · Rhodesian pound · Rhodesia and Nyasaland pound · Scottish pound · Solomon Islands pound · South Carolina pound · Southern Rhodesian pound · South African pound · Tongan pound · Virginia pound · West Indian pound · Western Samoan pound · Zambian pound Fictional Dollarpound See also Dinar · Pound sign · Troy pound