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Thepiastre orpiaster (English:/piˈæstər/) is any of a number of units of currency. The term originates from the Italian for "thin metal plate". The name was applied to Spanish and Hispanic Americanpieces of eight, orpesos, byVenetian traders in theLevant in the 16th century.
These pesos, minted continually for centuries, were readily accepted by traders in many parts of the world. After the countries of Latin America had gained independence, pesos of Mexico began flowing in through the trade routes, and became prolific in theFar East, taking the place of the Spanish pieces of eight which had been introduced by the Spanish atManila, and by thePortuguese atMalacca. When the Frenchcolonised Indochina, they began issuing the newFrench Indochinese piastre (piastre de commerce), which was equal in value to the familiar Spanish andMexican pesos.
In theOttoman Empire, the wordpiastre was a colloquial European name ofKuruş. Successive currency reforms bydebasing the Ottoman currency had reduced the value of the Ottoman piastre by the late 19th century so as to be worth about two pence (2d)sterling. Hence the namepiastre referred to two distinct kinds of coins in two distinct parts of the world, both of which had descended from the Spanish pieces of eight.
Because of the debased values of the piastres in theMiddle East, these piastres became subsidiary units for theTurkish,Lebanese,Cypriot, andEgyptian pounds.[1] Meanwhile, in Indochina, the piastre continued into the 1950s and was subsequently renamed theriel, thekip, and thedong inCambodia,Laos andVietnam respectively.
Earlyprivate bank currency issues inFrench-speaking regions ofCanada were denominated in piastres, and the term continued in official use for some time as a term for theCanadian dollar. For example, the original French version of the 1867Constitution of Canada refers to a requirement that senators hold propertyd'une valeur de quatre mille piastres.
The term is still unofficially used inQuebec,Acadian,Franco-Manitoban, andFranco-Ontarian language as a reference to the Canadian dollar, much as English speakers say "bucks." (The official French term for the modern Canadian dollar isdollar.) When used colloquially in this way, the term is often pronounced and spelledpiasse (pl.piasses). It was equivalent to 6New France livres or 120sous, a quarter of which was "30 sous", which is also still in slang for a 25-cent coin.
Piastre was also the original French word for theUnited States dollar, used for example in the French text of theLouisiana Purchase. Calling the US dollar a piastre is still common among speakers ofCajun French andNew England French. Modern French usesdollar for this unit of currency as well. The term is still used as slang for US dollars in theFrench-speaking Caribbean islands, most notablyHaiti.
Piastre is another name forkuruş,1⁄100 of theTurkish lira.
Thepiastre is still used inMauritius when bidding in auction sales, similarly to the way thatguineas are used at British racehorse auctions. It is equivalent to 2Mauritian rupees.[2]
Eckfeldt, Jacob Reese; Du Bois, William Ewing; Saxton, Joseph (1842).A manual of gold and silver coins of all nations, struck within the past century. Showing their history, and legal basis, and their actual weight, fineness, and value chiefly from original and recent assays. With which are incorporated treatises on bullion and plate, counterfeit coins, specific gravity of precious metals, etc., with recent statistics of the production and coinage of gold and silver in the world, and sundry useful tables. Assay Office of the Mint. p. 132.
