Piastre Público Deposited
Originally a Span- ish silver coin of the value of eight Beales, introduced at the beginning of the six- teenth century, and intended for trade with the Orient and the Spanish colonies. See Peso.
Charles III of Bourbon issued the Pias- tra of one hundred and twenty Grani for Naples from 1735 to the end of his reign, and with it a corresponding half Piastra. These coins were continued in the Neapoli- tan series to the year 1860. In the Re- pubblica Partenopea of 1799 the Piastre had a value of twelve Carlini.
In the Florentine series the Medici fam- ily struck the Piastra in both gold and silver. One variety, called the Piastra della Rosa, issued by Cosmo III. receives its name from the bunch of roses on the reverse. See Rial.
The name is supposed to be derived from the Italian piastro, a plaster. John Florio. in his Worlds of Words, 1598, has: "Pias- tra d'Argento, a coine or plate of silver used in Spaine." Blount, Glossographia 1674, says: "Piastre, a coyn in [taly, about the value of our crown." See Chal- mers (p. 390).
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)