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Pistole is the French name given to aSpanish goldcoin in use from 1537; it was adoubloon or doubleescudo, the gold unit. The name was also given to theLouis d'Or ofLouis XIII of France, and to other European gold coins of about the value of the Spanish coin.[1] One pistole was worth approximately tenlivres or threeécus, but higher figures are also seen.[2] The derivation is uncertain; the term may come from theCzechpíšťala ("whistle", a term for ahand cannon), or from the Italian town ofPistoia; either way, it was originally spelledpistolet and originated in military slang, and probably has the same root aspistol.[3][4][5]
A small number of gold pistoles and double pistoles were minted inIreland in 1646, during theIrish Confederate Wars and the reign ofCharles I.James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond authorised the issue in order to prevent troop defections, as there was a shortage ofsilver coins for paying soldiers. The coins had an approximate value of 13 shillings (26 s. for the double pistole); they are today worth over £65,000, as only eleven examples are known to survive.[6][7] They are the only gold coins ever struck in Ireland, except for a small number ofproof andECU issues.[8] The pistole weighed 103 grains (6.67 grams; 0.215 troy oz) while the double pistole was 206 grains (13.35 grams; 0.429 troy oz); the fineness was 19karat.[9] The coins (also called "pieces" or "pledges") did not bear any royal symbols, simply their weight (4 dwt 7 gr, or 8 dwt 14 gr) on both sides.[10]
A coin with this name was minted inScotland in 1701, underWilliam III, with a weight of 106 grains (c. 6.84 g) and a value of 12pounds Scots.[11]
The coin appears repeatedly inDumas' fiction. He has his character state, inThe Three Musketeers set in the 1620s, that one hundred pistoles were worth a thousandlivres tournois when Athos bargains for the horse he takes to the battle of La Rochelle.[12]
It was also referred to byRaphael Sabatini; who wrote 'swashbuckling' tales of the 17th and 18th centuries; in his book,St Martin's Summer.
The coin gave its name to the town ofTrois-Pistoles,Quebec, where according to local legend an explorer lost a goblet worth three pistoles in the river.[13]
Frederick the Great issued the Friedrich d'or pistole of 5 thalers in 1741 while the gold-silver price ratio of 14.5 was low, making it cheaper to reissue the thaler currency in gold. At 6.05 g fine gold per pistole, each thaler was worth 1.21g fine gold & 1.21 x14.5 = 17.545 g fine silver, cheaper than the prevailing standard of 19.488 g fine silver per thaler. The different North German states followed minting the 5-thaler pistole under their rulers' names (August-, Friedrich-August- or Christian d'or).
Its standard varied slightly; at best 35 to a Cologne Mark of gold 130/144 fine, or 6.032 g fine gold; and at worst 351⁄6 to a Mark 129/144 fine, or 5.957 g fine gold. The North German pistole was minted from 1741 to 1855.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Pistole".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 659.