Lira
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Lira (disambiguation).
| Lira | |
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| Vittorio Emanuele II: 1 Italian lira 1863 | |
Lira is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries, as well as the former currency of Italy, San Marino and the Vatican City.
The term originates from the value of a Troy pound (Latin libra) of high purity silver, and as such is a direct cognate of the British pound sterling; in some countries, such as Cyprus, the words lira and pound are used as equivalents. L, sometimes in a double-crossed script form (₤) or less often single-crossed (£), is usually used as the symbol.
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[edit] Former currencies
[edit] Current uses
[edit] Turkey
The Turkish Lira was introduced in the mid 1870s. The New Turkish Lira, equivalent to 1,000,000 old lira, is the current currency of Turkey, issued on January 1, 2005.
[edit] Malta
The Maltese Lira, known in the Maltese language as the Lira Maltija, is the currency of Malta. It is sometimes referred to as a pound.
[edit] Cyprus
The Cyprus pound is called "lira" in local languages.
[edit] Lebanon
The Lebanese pound is called "lira" in local languages.
