Larin (plural: lari) is the name of a class of objects serving as

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

s in areas around the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

. The name is derived from Lar, a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

town that according to tradition would have been the first to produce lari. A larin was a piece of

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

wire of about 10 centimeters long, usually folded in two equal parts and shaped like a C, though there are also lari shaped like a J, an I or an S. Lari were stamped with an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

or Persian text, usually the name of the local ruler. The Larin, also known as "Koku Ridi" (Silver Hook) was in use in the Kandyan Kingdom from 17th to early part of the 19th century in Sri Lanka and were made by private parties, five of which went to a piece-of-eight, or a Spanish Dollar. These coins with a shape like a fish-hook, bear no legend, or at best poor imitations of Arabic letters; they are usually somewhat thick and short, frequently shows one or more cuts at the bend, apparently made to test the purity of the metal. During the Portuguese period larins enjoyed widespread use in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The silver larin coinage, which originated in the Persian Gulf, was used extensively from that region around the coast of the Indian Ocean as far as Lanka during the period 16th and 17th centuries. Larins used in Lanka were bent into a "fish-hook" shape whereas those of other regions were straight. Larins actually produced in Lanka bore either imitation Persian inscriptions or meaningless designs: though specimens bearing western inscriptions are reported to have also been produced. Larins of more northerly origin that reached Lanka in the course of trade tended to be bent into "fish-hook" shape when they later subserved the currency needs of the island. A 17th century larin would weigh about 4.75 grams. It was traditionally tariffed at 5.5 lari to the Spanish colonial

piece of eight The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight (, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content fine silver. It wa ...

. Lari is the root of coin denominations used in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and the

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

References

*''The Silver Larin'' by M. K. Husain in "Journal of the Numismatic Society of India", Vol. XXIX, Part II (1967), pp. 54–72. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lari (Fish Hook Money) Currencies of Asia Historical currencies of India Coins of India Currencies of Sri Lanka Currencies of the Maldives