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Dictionary of the Coins of the World [S]


This is an ongoing work (one of those never-ending projects) consisting of a compilation of all known names used for coins from the ancient times to the present. Where possible, a description of coins of that name is given, as well as the most likely origin of the name, including translations. In many cases, links are made to pages which will show various examples of that denomination. Obviously, the images not all-inclusive but hopefully will give the user an idea of what some of the coin denominations looked like and how coins of the same name differ from country to country and through time.

S

Saidi Riyal

Saint Andrew's Florin - A name given to a Florin of Burgundy.  It had on the obverse the arms of Burgundy and on the reverse, Saint Andrew on the cross.

{From the depiction of Saint Andrew on the reverse.}

[Burgundy]

Salu'ng - [Thailand]

Salut d'or - A gold coin of France, struck by Charles VI (1380-1422) and Charles VII (1422-1461).  It was also struck in Naples under Charles I (1266-1278) and Charles II (1285-1309).  It has on the obverse the Madonna and angel over two shields, the reverse has a Roman cross.

[France, Italian States-Naples]

Saluto - A gold coin of Charles of Anjou as King of Sicily.  Also carlino.  It was also the name of a silver coin equal to 1/20 of the gold saluto.  Both coins show the annuciation of Mary.

[Italian States-Sicily]

Saluts - A gold coin equal to 25 sou that was issued by Henry V and Henry VI of England as Kings of France after the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

[England for France]

Sanar - [Afghanistan]

Sanese d'oro - A gold coin of Siena, struck under John Galeazzo (1390-1404).

[Italian States-Siena]

Santa Croce - 25 soldo piece with St Vultus on the cross.  It was first struck in 1564 and valued at 15 bolgnini.  In the two centuries following, its value increased to 25 bolignini.

[Italian States-Lucca]

Santim - [Morocco]

Santimat - [Morocco]

Santimi - Plural of santims.

Santims - A former coin of Latvia, the 100th part of a lat.

{From Latvian from French centime centime.}

[Latvia]

Santimu

San Martino - 3 scudo or 15 soldi [?]  Has the figure of St Martin on horseback.  Minted early 17th Century.

[Italian States-Lucca]

San Tome - A gold coin of Goa, struck under Portugal beginning in the reign of John III (1521-1557).  It had on the obverse the standing figure of Saint Thomas.

{From Portuguese San Saint + Tome Thomas; named for the figure of Saint Thomas on the obverse.}

[Portuguese India-Goa]

San Vicente - A gold coin of Portugal struck by John III (1521-1527) that had a value of 1000 reis.  It featured Saint Vicente, the patron saint of Portugal, on the reverse.  It was struck until the time of Sebastian (1557-1578).

{From Portuguese San Vicente after the Saint portrayed on the obverse.}

[Portugal]

Sapek - Variant form of sapeque.

Sapeque - Coin issued by France for use in Indo-China.

{From French sapèque from Malay sa pek, sa pe from sa one + pek, pe pie.}

[Annam (Vietnam), French Cochin China, French Indo-China]

Sar

Saraph - Variant form of seraph.

Satang - Plural satang.  A monetary unit and former coin of Thailand, the 100th part of a baht.

{From Tahi sataaõ (spelled satang) ultimately from Pali sata hundred + anga portion or division of baht.}

[Thailand]

Saudi Pound - Gold coin struck at the Phildelphia mint by the United States for use in Saudi Arabia in 1945 and 1946.  One and four saudi pounds exist.  The obverse is blank but for the weight and fineness in three lines on a rectangular tablet.  The reverse has an eagle and U.S. MINT, PHILIDELPHIA.  U.S.A.

Scalin - Variant form of escalin and schelling.

Sceat obulum - As the name of an English coin the word is found in the form scætt in the laws of Ethelbert of Kent. It is inferred from a comparison of passages in these that the value of the scætt in Kent was 1/20 of a shilling.  The sceatt is also mentioned in Mercian law where 30,000 sceatta is equivalent to 120 punda.  This would give 250 sceatts to the pound.  In the Northern Gospels dragmas decem is glossed by 'fîf sceatta teásîpum' while the West Saxon version has 'tín scyllingas'  If the sums given here may be regarded as equal, the sceatt would be worth a West Saxon penny, the value which it appears to have in the Mercian law.

{From Gothic skatts ργßριov  δηvάριov  μv  Old Sax skatt money, property, piece of money.  Old French Skett from Old High German Scaz substantia, mobilia, pretium, lucrum, pecunia, aes, denarius, quadrans, obolus, from Icelandic skattr tribute]

Sceatt - Plural sceattas also written skeat (plural skeats, skeattas), scaett (plural scaettas); and erroneously as sceatta, skeatta (plural sceattae, skeattae).  A coin or denomination of money mentioned in Old English documents.  In Mercia, 250 sceattas are mentioned as equivalent to a pound; in Kent, the value seems to have been 1/20 of a shilling.  It was adopted by modern writers as the name for a small Old English silver coin, about 15 grains in weight, the examples of which belong to the 7th and 8th centuries.  It was also occasionally applied to an Old English gold coin of similar size.

{From Old English scaet property, goods, wealth, treasure from Old High German scaz, from Middle High German schaz treasure and from Old Norse skatt tribute or piece of money.}

[England-Anglo Saxon]

Scellino -

{From Italian scellino shilling.}

[Somalia]

Scepter - A popular name given to the sceptered gold unite first coined in 1604 in England.  Also the name suggested for a silver coin in 1695.

{From the scepter on the king holds on the obverse.}

[England]

Sceptre - Variant form of the scepter.

Schaerf - Variant form of scherf.

Schaf - [German States]

Schauthaler - Show thalerthaler struck for commemorative purposes.

{German schau show + thaler thaler.}

[German States]

Scheidemüenze - Subsidiary coinage not struck at convention standard and hence not worth face value outside the issuing state.

[German States]

Scherf - North German subsidiary coin worth 1/2 pfennig, struck from the late middle ages through the 17th century.

[German States]

Schiessthaler - A thaler minted for distribution as a prize at a shooting match.

{From German schiess shoot + thaler thaler.}

[German States]

Schelling - Dutch schilling in the 16th through the 18th century.  It was worth 6 stuiver.  The value often shown 6-S.

[Netherlands]

Schilling - An extremely popular German coin descended from the Roman solidus, hence it was alway equivalent to 12 denarii or pfennigs (except in medieval Austria and Bavaria where the "long" schilling of 30 pfennigs, 8 to the pound, was used for accounting).  From Carolingian days the schilling  was a money of account, the 20th part of the monetary pound, but it was not coined until the 14th century.  Because the pound varied greatly from place to place, a vast assortment of schillings appeared subsequent to that date.

[Austria, German States, Switzerland-Cantons]

Schillinge - [German States]

Schreckenberger - Large (4.3 grams, 30 millimeters in diameter) groschen of fine silver content coined by Saxony and certain of it neighbors from 1498 to 1571.  It was worth 3 zinsgroschen or 1/7 goldgulden or guldengroschen.  Also called engelgroschen (Angel groschen) because of the design, an angel holding a shield of arms.  These coins became outmoded when the thaler was divided into 24 instead of 21 groschen.  The name and design was revived during the Kipper Period 1619 to 1623 and assigned to a debased coin worth 12 kreuzers (1/21 thaler).

{The name derived from the fact that the first specimens were coined from silver from the Schreckenberg mine.  From German schreckenberg the Schreckenberg mine + er from.}

[German States]

Schuesselpfennig - One-sided concave pfennig of the later middle ages.

{From German schuessel dish + pfennig pfennig.}

[German States]

Schwaren - A minor coin of the North Sea coastal area.  The schwaren was first coined at Bremen in the second half of the 14th century as a "Schwere dickpfennig" (heavy, thick pfennig), worth 1/5 grote.  This relationship to the grote held true until the schwaren was abolished in the latter 19th century, but during this time the coin itself had degenerated from a silver piece weighing almost a gram to a copper piece of pfennig size.

{From German schwere heavy.}

[German States]

Scot - The 24th part of the Prussian mark.

[German States]

Scudo - Plural scudi.  Any of various gold or silver coins of various Italian states, issued from the late 16th century through the early 19th century.

{From Italian scudo from Latin scutum shield.}

[Bolivia, Mexico, Peru, Italian States-San Marino]

Scudo d'oro - A gold coin struck in the Italian States.  It had arms on the obverse and a cross on the reverse.

{From Italian scudo scudo + d'oro of gold; see scudo.}

[Italian States-Achaia, Asti, Benevello, Brescello, Cagliari, Canurino, Carmagnola, Casale, Castro, Cisterna, Correggio, Cremona, Desana, Ferrara, Florence, Frinco, Genoa, Guastalla, Gubbio, Lucca, Mantua, Massa di Lunigiana, Massa-Lombardy, Messerano, Messina, Milan, Mirandolo, Modena, Montalcino, Montanaro, Musso, Naples, Novaro, Parma and Piacenza, Passerano, Pesaro, Pomponesco, Reggio-Emilia, Sabbioneta, Sardinia, Siena, Soragna, Urbino, Venice and Vercelli, Vatican City States]

Scudo Riccio - [Italian States]

Sechser - Six-pfennig coin of North Central Germany worth 1/2 groschen.  The name was also given to the six-kreuzer pieces.

{From German sechs six + er er; a piece of six.}

[German States]

Sechsling - Six-pfennig coin of the Baltic coast worth 1/2 schilling.

[German States]

Semis - A copper coin of ancient Rome, the half part of an as.

{From Latin semis apparently equal to semi semi or half + as as.}

[Ancient Rome]

Sen - Plural sen.  A money of account of Japan, the 100th part of a yen, now used only in certain quotations, as in foreign exchange.

{From Japanese from Middle Chinese equivalent to Chinese qian (compare with chon).}

A money of account of Cambodia, the 100th part of a riel.

{From Khmer sein, probably the Khmer pronunciation of the French abbreviation cent for centime centime on Cambodian coins.}

A bronze coin and monetary unit of Brunei, the 100th part of a dollar.

An aluminum coin and monetary unit of Indonesia, the 100th part of a rupiah.

A bronze, cupronicel or copper-clad coin and monetary unit of Malaysia, the 100th part of a ringgit.  Also called a cent.

[Brunei, China, Indonesia, Irian Barat, Japan, Malaysia, Riau Archipelago, West Irian, West New Guinea]

Sene - Plural sene.  A bronze coin and monetary unit of Western Samoa, the 100th part of a tala.

{From Samoan, from English cent cent.}

[Western Samoa]

Sengi - [Congo (Zaire)]

Seniti - Plural senitiA bronze or brass coin and monetary unit of Tonga, the 100th part of a pa'anga.

{From Tongan from English cent cent.}

[Tonga]

Sent - A former coin of Estonia, the 100th part of a kroon; it replaced the mark in 1928.

{From Estonian senti (compare to Finnish sentiti?) from Latin centum hundred.}

[Estonia]

Sente - Plural lisente.  A nickel-brass coin and monetary unit of Lesotho, the 100th part of a loti.

[Lesotho]

Senti - Plural of sent.

[Somalia, Tanzania]

Sentimo - [Philippines]

Sents - Plural of sent.

Sequin - A former gold coin of the Republic of Venice introduced in 1284; ducat. Also known as a zechinno or zechin.

A former gold coin of Malta, introduced c1535.

A former gold coin of Turkey, introduced in 1478.

{From French sequin from Italian zecchino equivalent to zecc(a) mint (from Arabic sikkah a die or coin) + ino -ine.}

[Italian States-Venice, Malta, Turkey]

Seraph - Turkish gold coin.  Called in 1576 saraphes and in 1653 seraphs.

{From Turkish shar§f, shariffe from Arabic shereef, sherifi noble or glorious.  See noble.}

[Turkey]

Serifi - [Turkey]

Sertum

Sesino - A base silver coin of Milan, equal to 2 soldo.

[Italian States-Milan]

Sesling - [German States]

Sesterce - A silver coin of ancient Rome, the quarter of a denarius, equal to 22 asses.  It was introduced in the 3rd century BC.

{From Latin sestertius, equivalent to ses half unit (sesqui) + ertius third.  (ie.  2 units and half a third = 22 asses).}

[Ancient Rome]

Sestertii - Plural of sestertius.

[Ancient Rome]

Sestertium - Plural sestertia.  A money of account of ancient Rome equal to 1000 sesterces.

Sestertius - Bronze coin of ancient Rome.

[Ancient Rome]

Sestino - One sixth of a soldo in North Italy.

{From Italian sesto one-sixth.}

Sexyans

Shahi - [Afghanistan, Iran, USSR]

Shahrukhi - A silver coin of Pir Mohhamad, the Shaybanid sultan.

[Present-day Afghanistan]

Shekel - Also shequel.  A paper money, cupronickel or silver coin, and monetary unit of Israel, equal to 100 agoroti; it replaced the pound in 1980.

An ancient, originally Babylonian, unit of weight of varying value, taken as equal to the fiftieth or sixtieth part of a mina or from about a quarter to half an ounce.  Also, a coin of this weight, especially the chief silver coin of the ancient Hebrews that was equivalent to a tetradrachm.

[Israel]

Sheqalim - [Israel]

Sheqel - [Israel]

Shequel - [Israel]

Sherifi Alti - [Egypt, Turkey]

Sherify - Variant name of the ashrafi.

Shilin - [Somalia]

Shilingi - [Tanzania]

Shilling - [Australia, British West Africa, Cyprus, East Africa, England, Fiji Islands, Great Britain, Guernesy, Ireland, Jamaica, Jersey, Kenya, Malawi, New Guinea, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, Somalia, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe]

Sho - [Nepal, Tibet]

Shokang

Shokay

Shqalim?

Shu - [Japan]

Siebener - Odd value (7 kreuzers) struck by the Hapsburgs in the 18th century in an attempt to tie the Bohemian groschel (3/4 kreuzer) in with the rest of their monetary system at a slight discount.

{From German siebener sevener (a piece of seven).}

[German States]

Siebenzehner - Odd value (17 kreuzers) struck by the Hapsburgs in the 18th century in an attempt to tie the Hungarian poltura  (1 1/2 kreuzers) in with the rest of their monetary system at a slight discount.

{From German siebenzehner seventeener (a piece of seventeen).}

[German States]

Sigloi - Plural of siglos.

Siglos - Plural sigloi.  A silver coin of ancient Persia, the 20th part of a gold daric.

{From Greek siglos from semetic (compare to Hebrew sheqel shekel.}

[Ancient Persia]

Sihansah -

Sij - [Thailand]

Silbergroschen - The billion groschen of Prussia and various of it neighbors from 1821 to 1873.  It was worth 12 pfennigs or 1/30 thaler.

{German silber silver + groschen groschen.}

[German States]

Siliqua

Siliquae - Plural form of siliqua.

Silver Ducat - [Netherlands]

Sio - [Thailand]

Sixain - A coin of Cyprus, issued under Frankish rule by Janus (1398-1432).  It was equal to 6 deniers.

[Cyprus]

Sizain - [France]

Skar - [Tibet]

Skilling - Scandanavian schilling.

[Denmark, Norway, Sweden]

Skilling Lybsk - [Gluckstadt]

Skillingrigsmont - [Denmark]

Snaphaanschilling - [Netherlands]

Soesling - Variant name for sechsling.  It was valued at 6 penninge and bore a shield on the obverse with 3 Danish lions on the reverse.

[German States]

Sol - The French shilling, worth 12 deniers or 1/20 livre.  Also coined in parts of Switzerland and the Low Countries which were under French influence.  Owing to steady inflation, the sol in France became a copper coin during the reign of Louis XIV, but on the German side of the border it was generally struck in billion.  The last sols were minted at Geneva in 1833.

{From Old French sol ultimately from Late Latin solidus solidus.  Compare to the Italian soldo and the Spanish sueldo.}

Also a coin sturck in Peru, equal to 100 centavos.  Also called a libra, a former gold coin of Peru.

{From American Spanish sol from Spanish sol, from Latin sol sun.  From the device of a sun on a Peruvian coin equal to 1/10 libra minted until 1930.}

[Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, France, Haiti, Luxembourg, Peru, Switzerland-Cantons]

Soldi - Plural of soldo.

Soldino - The half of a soldo.

[Italian States]

Soldo - The Italian shilling, worth 12 denarii or 1/20 lira.  Also coined in Switzerland and parts of Southern Austria as well as in Austrian Italy.  This coin, first struck in the 13th century, was the backbone of the Italian monetary system until the early 19th century.  Originally a silver coin, it was debased to billion and, from the 17th century onward, was almost exclusively of copper.  The soldo was exceptionally important in that it was the link between the Italian system of accounts and the coins which the Italian people were forced to use in everyday life.  Owing to inflation, the denaro was rarely coined and prior to the 19th century the lira almost never appeared, yet all accounting was done in terms of denarii, soldi, and lire.  This was accomplished by giving a value in these units to all of the coins in everyday circulation, including the foreign ones.  Thus, during the 19th century, the Austrian conventionthaler struck at Milan and Venice passed for 6 lire, the 20-kreuzer piece (1/6 conventionthaler) was current at 1 lira, and other coins were in proportion.  The soldo and its fractions and multiples, as the only money current representing the actual Italian system of values, were particularly useful.

{From Italian soldo, from Late Latin solidus golden, a term applied to the main Roman gold coin.}

[Italy States]

Soles - Plural of sol.

[Argentina, Bolivia, Peru]

Solidus - A gold coin introduced by Constantine the Great.  Commonly called a bezant in medieval times.

The shilling.  Originally a gold coin in Roman and Byzantine times.  Owing to inflation it sank to a subsidiary level throughout most of Europe before the end of the middle ages.

{From Late Latin solidus golden.}

[Ancient Rome, Byzantine, Courland, Livonia, Poland, Riga]

Solodi - [Denmark]

Sols - Plural of sol.

Somalo - [Somalia]

Sosling - Variant form of soesling.

Sosling Lybsk - [Gluckstadt]

Sou - Variant form of sol.

Sous

Souverain d'or - A gold coin of Austria, struck from the time of Maria Theresa (1740-1780) until Francis (1806-1835).

{From French souverain sovereign + d'or of gold.}

[Artois, Austria, Flanders, Tournai]

Souverain ou Lion d'or - [Brabant, Tournai]

Sovereign - [Austria, Canada, England, Great Britain, India-British, Saudi Arabia, South Africa]

Sovrano - A gold coin of Austria, struck from the time of Joseph II (1765-1790) until that of Ferdinand I (1835-1848).

[Austria]

Spade Guinea - A guinea of the pattern coined 1789-1800, so called from the form of the escutcheon on the reverse.

[Great Britain]

Spadino - A scudo of silver issed by Carlo Emanuele I during the last year of his reign.  It had on the reverse an arm holding a sword.

{From Italian spada sword.}

Speciedaler - Scandanavian speciethaler.

[Denmark, Norway]

Species Ducat - [Denmark]

Speciethaler - thaler struck from 1753 to 1837 containing 1/10 mark (23.4 grams) of fine silver.  Worth 1 1/3 reichsthaler.

Spruchthaler - Any thaler bearing a motto or quotation from the Bible as part of the legend.

{From German spruch saying, adage, quotation, etc + thaler thaler.}

[German States]

Spur Ryal - A gold ryal of England, struck during the reign of James I (1603-1625).  It had on the obverse a radiate rose.

[England]

Srang - [Tibet]

Srebrenik - Plural srebreniki.  Early Russian silver coins, weighing about the same as an Islamic dirhamCor about 3 grams.

{From Russian FD,$D,>48 a piece of silver.}

[Russia]

Stanislas - A Polish gold coin struck by Stanislas Augustus.  It was equal to three ducats.

{After Stanislas Augustus}

[Poland]

Star Pagoda

Stater - Any of various gold, silver or electrum coin units or coins of the ancient Greek states or cities.

{From Late Latin stater from Greek stater, akin to histanai meaning to place in the balance, literally to make stand.}

[Ancient Greek States]

Stebler - [Switzerland, Swiss Cantons]

Sterbetaler - A coin of Sibylla Ursula, Duchess of Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg struck upon her death.

{From German sterbe death + taler thaler.}

[German States-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg]

Sterling - The British or Scottish silver penny.  This name was applied indiscriminately to the penny  and to copies of it made on the Lower and Middle Rhine during the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries.  The revival of trade in the Low Countries in this time period had produced a need for better currency than the much-depreciated denar, and for a time the sterling filled the breach.  It was worth 4 denars.

[England, Scotland, Continental Imitations]

Stiver - Variant form of stuiver.  A former nickel coin of the Netherlands, equal to 5 Dutch cents.  A minor coin of Bulgaria, the 100th part of a lev.

{From Bulgarian stotinka derivative of sto from Old Church Slavonic suto hundred?}

[Bulgaria]

Stotinka - [Bulgaria]

Stotinki - Plural of stotinka.

Stuber - Variant form of stuiver.

Stueber - Variant form of stuiver.

Stuiver - The groschen of Holland, the Lower Rhine, and the North Sea Coast.  First struck in the 15th century, the stuiver began as a silver coin and ended in the early 19th century as billion.  Variously divided into 8 duits, 12 or 16 pfennigs.  During its lifetime, the German stuiver was quoted at from 20 to 30 to the gulden, and successively 54, 60, 72, and 75 to the thaler.  The last German coins bearing stuiver values were minted by Hanover for East Friesland in 1825.

{From Dutch stuiver the coin.}

[Curacau, Indonesia, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Sri Lanka]

Styca - A base metal coin.  The base-metal descendent of the sceatta struck in Northumbria in the 9th Century.

Su - [Vietnam-South]

Sucre - A cupronickel coin and monetary unit of Ecuador, equal to 100 centavosAbbr. S.

[Ecuador]

Sueldo - [Argentina, Bolivia, Spain]

Suka -

Suko -

Sukus - [Indonesia]

Sultani - A gold coin, belonging to a prince or sovereign?  (Page 693)

Sultania - [Libya, Tunisia-Tunis]

Sultanin - sequin.?

Sürre Altin -

{From Turkish sürre gifts, a purse formerly sent annually by the Sultan to Mecca + altin gold???}

[Turkey]

Suvarna - A gold coin of Sasanka, King of Ghouda (Bangladesh) with an image of the god Siva.

[Ghouda (Bangladesh)]

Swaren - Variant form of schwaren.

Sword - [Scotland]

Sword and Scepter Piece - A gold coin of Scotland, struck under James VI (1567-1625).  The obverse has a sword crossed by a scepter.

{From the crossed sword and scepter on the obverse.}

[Scotland]

Sycee -

{lump of silver, Chinese, Mandarin etc.}

Syli - An aluminum coin and monetary unit of Guniea, equal to 100 cauris; it replaced the franc in 1977.

[Guinea]

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