Where Do Our Currencies Get Their Names?

Whenever you travel to another country, one of the first things that grabs your attention is the currency.

You open your wallet, find a bill or coin that looks nothing like the money back home, and a question pops into your mind: why is this currency called that?

In this article, dear reader, I’ll take you on a journey through history to uncover the origins of some of the world’s most famous currencies. Buckle up—these aren’t just numbers and paper, but stories stretching across centuries!

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Used today in Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria, and once in Italy and Malta. The word lira comes from the Latin libra, meaning “scales” or “balance.”

Originally, the lira wasn’t a coin but a unit of weight: 329 grams of pure silver. Imagine shopping in ancient Rome and paying for bread or wine with a chunk of silver weighed on a balance. Over time, “libra” became “lira” and turned into a currency name.

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Now used in Morocco and the UAE, but its roots go back to ancient Greece. The Greek drachma came from a verb meaning “to grasp” or “to hold.” It symbolized something tangible you could hold in your hand.

Through the Byzantine Empire, the word entered Arabic as dirham, and Islamic empires adopted it as a currency. So when you withdraw “100 dirhams” today, you’re holding a word with more than two thousand years of history.

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Common across North Africa and the Middle East, but again, Roman in origin. The Latin word denarius meant “containing ten,” because it was worth ten smaller units called as.

Under the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in 696 CE, the first purely Islamic dinar was minted, inscribed in Arabic instead of with Roman emperors. It wasn’t just money; it was a declaration of cultural independence.

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When you hear “pound,” most think of the Egyptian pound. The first was minted under Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1836, borrowing the name from the British pound.

But the British pound itself (pound sterling) originally meant a pound of silver or gold. Some historians connect it to Guinea in Africa, where much of Britain’s gold came from—so a “pound” in your pocket was once tied to African mines and European trade routes.

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The Rial

The word rial comes from Spanish real, meaning “royal,” which is related to English royal. The first reales were issued in Spain in the 14th century as “royal coins.”

Through trade, the Spanish real reached Arabia and became the Hejaz rial, literally the same Spanish coin but stamped with the word “Hejaz.” Later, multiple currencies circulated in the region, often just re-stamped foreign coins.

Finally, in 1935, the Saudi rial was introduced, initially as paper notes given to pilgrims—like an IOU worth ten rials. And from there, it grew into the national currency.

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The Dollar

Perhaps the world’s most famous currency, but not originally American. Its story starts in 1520 in Joachimsthal, Bohemia (modern-day Czechia), where silver coins were minted. They were called Joachimsthalers, shortened to thalers.

The name spread to the Netherlands as daler, and with Dutch immigrants to America, it became dollar. Even today, some Americans still pronounce it “daler,” just like the Dutch centuries ago.

So, every time you buy a coffee for two dollars, remember you’re holding a coin whose name was born in a European silver mine.

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The Fils

The smallest unit in many Arab currencies. Originally, it was a Roman coin with a tiny bit of silver.

Interestingly, fals is close to the English word false, as if to say: “this isn’t real money, just pocket change.”

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The Qirsh

Today a small unit, but once a major coin made of silver. Its name comes from the German Groschen, meaning “large.”

Ironically, the gold coin of the time was worth 100 qirsh, so the “big coin” eventually became the “small change.” (Even fish, it seems, once feared gold because it contained a hundred “qirsh”—sharks! 🦈🤣)

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The Halala

Used as fractions of the Saudi rial (100 halalas = 1 rial). Its name goes back to the German Heller, a very small medieval coin.

The German mark was divided into 100 pfennigs, and each pfennig equaled 2 hellers. So today’s halala is the great-great-grandchild of old German coinage.

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The Ouguiya

The Mauritanian currency. Its name comes from an old unit of weight for silver and gold. Over time, the measure of precious metals transformed into the name of money itself.

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The Franc

Once France’s national currency, still used in places like Djibouti and Comoros. The name derives from “francorum,” meaning “free” or “French,” and was linked to gold coins minted in medieval France.

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Conclusion

Each currency carries not just economic value, but a story: the lira recalls Roman balances, the dirham and dinar link us to Greece and Rome, the rial reflects Spanish royalty, and the dollar traveled from German valleys to American wallets.

So next time you slip a bill into your pocket, remember—you’re not just carrying money. You’re holding a little piece of history that has crossed continents and centuries to end up in your hands.

By Knowledge Corner ✍️