Lira is the name of several

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The term originates from the value of a

Roman pound The ancient Roman units of measurement were primarily founded on the Hellenic system, which in turn was influenced by the Egyptian system and the Mesopotamian system. The Roman units were comparatively consistent and well documented. Length T ...

( la, libra, about 329g, 10.58 troy ounces) of high purity silver. The

libra Libra generally refers to: * Libra (constellation), a constellation * Libra (astrology), an astrological sign based on the star constellation Libra may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Libra'' (novel), a 1988 novel by Don DeLillo Musi ...

was the basis of the monetary system of the Roman Empire. When Europe resumed a monetary system, during the

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the ...

, the Roman system was adopted. The Roman denominations ''librae'', ''solidi'', ''denarii'' were used (becoming known in England as

£sd £sd (occasionally written Lsd, spoken as "pounds, shillings and pence" or pronounced ) is the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies once common throughout Europe, especially in the British Isles and hence in several countries of the ...

). Particularly this system was kept during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and Modern Age in England, France, and

. In each of these countries the ''libra'' was translated into local language: pound in England,

livre LIVRE (, L), previously known as LIVRE/Tempo de Avançar (, L/TDA), is a green political party in Portugal founded in 2014. Its founding principles are ecology, universalism, freedom, equity, solidarity, socialism and Europeanism. Its symbol i ...

in France, ''lira'' in Italy. The

Venetian lira The lira (plural ''lire'') was the distinct currency of Venice until 1848, when it was replaced by the Italian lira. It originated from the Carolingian monetary system used in much of Western Europe since the 8th century CE, with the ''lira'' subd ...

was one of the currencies in use in Italy and due to the economic power of the Venetian Republic a popular currency in the Eastern Mediterranean trade. During the 19th century, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and the

Eyalet of Egypt The Eyalet of Egypt (, ) operated as an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1867. It originated as a result of the conquest of Mamluk Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517, following the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17) and the a ...

adopted the ''lira'' as their national currency, equivalent to 100

piaster The piastre or piaster () 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 American pieces of eight, or pesos, by Venetian traders in the Levant i ...

s or

kuruş Kuruş ( ; ), also gurush, ersh, gersh, grush, grosha, and grosi, are all names for currency denominations in and around the territories formerly part of the Ottoman Empire. The variation in the name stems from the different languages it is us ...

. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in years 1918–1922, many among the successor states kept the lira as their national currency. In some countries, such as

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

, which have belonged to both the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire, the words ''lira'' and '' pound'' are used interchangeably.

Lira sign

For the

Turkish lira The lira ( tr, Türk lirası; sign: ₺; ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. One lira is divided into one hundred ''kuruş''. History Ottoman lira (1844–1923) The lira, along with ...

, the

Turkish lira sign The lira ( tr, Türk lirası; sign: ₺; ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. One lira is divided into one hundred ''kuruş''. History Ottoman lira (1844–1923) The lira, along with ...

() is used. The Lebanese lira uses (before numerals) or (after numerals) in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

. The Syrian lira uses (before numerals) or (after numerals) in

and in Arabic. The

Italian lira The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually ...

had no official sign, but the abbreviations and and the symbols (two bars), (one bar) were all commonly used. The

Maltese lira The lira ( mt, lira Maltija, plural: ''liri'', ISO 4217 code: ''MTL'') or pound (until ca. 1986 in English, code ) was the currency of Malta from 1972 until 31 December 2007. One lira was divided into 100 cents, each of 10 mils. After 1986 th ...

used before 1986 and thereafter (both as prefixes), though £M continued to be used in unofficial capacities. The

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, wh ...

system allocated to the Lira, to provide compatibility with a legacy HP character set. As with , where the one-bar and the two-bar versions are treated as

allograph Allography, from the Greek for "other writing", has several meanings which all relate to how words and sounds are written down. Authorship An allograph may be the opposite of an autograph – i.e. a person's words or name ( signature) written b ...

s and the choice between them is merely stylistic, no evidence has been found that either style predominated in Italy or anywhere else.

Current uses

Turkey

The

was introduced in 1844 during the Ottoman reign. The Turkish lira is now the currency of Turkey and the

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Reco ...

, and used in Turkish-occupied northern Syria.

Lebanon and Syria

The

Lebanese pound The pound or lira ( ar, ليرة لبنانية ''līra Libnāniyya''; French: ''livre libanaise''; abbreviation: LL in Latin, in Arabic, historically also £L, ISO code: LBP) is the currency of Lebanon. It was formerly divided into 100 pias ...

and Syrian pound are both called "lira" () in

, the national language of both Lebanon and Syria.

Historic use

Italy

The lira was the currency of Italy from its unification until it was merged into the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

in 1999. A unit of currency lira had previously been used in some of the states and possessions that became Italy but their values were not necessarily equivalent. (See

Luccan lira The lira (plural: ''lire'') was the currency of the Republic of Lucca until 1800 and again of the Duchy of Lucca between 1826 and 1847. It was subdivided into 20 '' soldi'', each of 3 ''quattrini'' or 12 ''denari''. History The lira circulated un ...

Papal lira The lira was the currency of the Papal States between 1866 and 1870. History In 1866 Pope Pius IX, whose temporal domain had been reduced to only the province of Latium, decided to join the Latin Monetary Union. A new currency, the lira, was in ...

Parman lira The lira (plural: ''lire'') was the distinct currency of Parma before 1802 and again from 1815 to 1859. History First lira The Duchy of Parma issued its own currency until it was annexed to France in 1802. This lira was subdivided into 20 ''soldi ...

Sardinian lira The lira (plural ''lire'') was the currency of the Kingdom of Sardinia between August 6, 1816, and March 17, 1861. It was subdivided into 100 ''centesimi'' (singular ''centesimo'') and was equal in value to the French franc (4.5 grams of silver), ...

and

Tuscan lira The lira (plural: ''lire'') was the currency of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until its annexation by Napoleonic France in 1807. After that year, it unofficially remained in circulation thanks to its silver value until the restoration of Tuscan ind ...

Former currencies named lira

* Cypriot lira/pound 1879–2007; merged into the

, 2008 *

French livre The livre (abbreviation: £ or ₶., French for (pound)) was the currency of Kingdom of France and its predecessor state of West Francia from 781 to 1794. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of coins a ...

781–1794; became the French

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

* Israeli lira/pound 1948–1980; replaced by the old shekel in 1980. *

1861–2002; merged into the

, 1999 (notes and coins from 2002) *

Italian East African lira The lira AOI was a special banknote circulating in Italian East Africa (''Africa Orientale Italiana'', or AOI) between 1938 and 1941. Data When Fascist Italy imposed the Italian lira in Ethiopia in 1936, it decided upon a rate of 3 lire = 1 th ...

1938–1941; supplanted by the East African shilling *

Italian Somaliland lira The Italian Somaliland lira also called the Somali lira ( it, lira somala), was a special version of the Italian lira minted in Italian Somaliland between 1925 and 1926. Data The "Italian Somali Lira" replaced the Italian Somaliland rupia a ...

1925–1926; replaced by the Italian East African lira *

until 1800 and 1826–1847; merged into the Italian lira *

1825–2007; merged into the

, 2008 *

Neapolitan lira The lira was the currency of the mainland part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, known as the Kingdom of Naples, between 1812 and 1813. The currency was issued by Joachim Murat, who claimed the title of "King of the Two Sicilies" but only control ...

1812–1813; merged into the Italian lira *

Ottoman lira The lira (sign: LT) was the currency of Ottoman Empire between 1844 when it was replaced by the Turkish lira. The Ottoman lira remained in circulation until the end of 1927, as the republic was not in a position to issue its own banknotes yet in ...

1844–1923; became the Turkish lira *

1866–1870; became the Vatican lira at par with the Italian lira *

before 1802 and 1815–1859; merged into the Italian lira *

Sammarinese lira The lira (plural ''lire''; abbreviation: SML) was the currency of San Marino from the 1860s until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2002. It was equivalent and pegged to the Italian lira. Italian coins and banknotes and Vatican City coins ...

1860s–2002; merged into the euro *

1816–1861; merged into the Italian lira * Tripolitanian lira 1943–1951; replaced by the Libyan pound *

until 1807 and 1814–1826; merged into the Italian lira *

Vatican lira The lira (plural ''lire''; abbreviation: VAL) was the currency of the Vatican City between 1929 and 2002. It was not a separate currency but an issue of the Italian lira; the Banca d'Italia produced coins specifically for Vatican City. History ...

1929–2002; merged into the euro *

1472–1807; merged into the Italian lira

References

External links

Overview of Italian lira from the BBC
{{coord, 2, 14, N, 32, 54, E, type:city_source:kolossus-rowiki, display=title Currencies of Europe Currencies of Italy Currencies of Malta Currencies of San Marino Currencies of Vatican City