World Coins - Dictionary of Numismatic Names.
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V. A nickname for the five Dollar bill of the United States, which bears this numeral on the front side.
Vacquette, i.e., a little cow. A nickname given to a billon Liard, struck by the Vicorates de Beam in the early part of the fifteenth century. The type was copied by Henri IV of France about 1608, on whose coins the field was quartered with two cows and two crowned letters H.
In the Inventory of the Chateau de Pan, 1561-1562, "Cinq vacquettes d'or de Beard" (? Beam) are mentioned; but these were probably essays or trial-pieces, as the Vacquette was always of billon or base silver. See Baquette.
Vales. The name given to the cardboard money issued by the Rebels in Mexico in 1914-1915. The words VALE 5 CENTAVOS, VALE 10 CENTAVOS, etc., printed prominently on the face of these tickets, probably gave rise to the nickname.
Valtan. The popular name for the Denier Noir, struck bv Guido IV of Ventadour, the Bishop of Cambrai (1342-13-17). See Blanchet (i. 462).
Van. The Annamese for the Chinese Wen {q.v.). Pieces of the Emperor Tu Due (1847-1883) are found with the values sixty, fifty, forty, thirty, twenty, ten, and six Van.
Varaha. The Tamil name for the Pagoda (q.v.). Dr. Bidie, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, Bengal, 1883 (p. 35), cites Sir Walter Elliot, that "the term varaha is never used in ancient Tamil records in connection with money, but the word pon, which was a piece equal to the modern half pagoda, the pagoda itself being the double pon, which ultimately became the varaha."
Varahan. Tlie name of a gold coin of Travancore. Those issued liy the Maharaja Rama Varma in 1877 had the following values : the one Varahan equals seven and
one half Rupees, or fifty-two and one half Panams ; the one half Varahan equals three and three quarters Rupees. See Codrington (p. 123) and Pana.
Vargas Dollar. The name given to a variety of the Mexican silver piece of eight Reales, coined at Sombrerete from 1810 to 1812 by the Republican general Vargas. See Mailliet (xli. 1).
Veal Money, or Veale Noble Money. Cowell , in The Interpreter, 1684, states that "The Tenants of one of the Tythings within the Mannor of Bradford, in Wiltshire, pay a yearly Rent by this name, in lieu of veale paid formerly in kind."
Veertienstuiver. See Guilder.
Velddaalder. A term used by Dutch numismatists to indicate a coin struck during the course of a campaign and corresponding to the German "Feldthaler." It is also used to describe obsidional issues, e.g., the Klippe of fort.y Sols of Breda, 1577, etc.
Vellon. A term used in connection with the Spanish coinage to indicate inferior silver, as distinguishable from the plata, or sterling silver. In the reign of Joseph Napoleon as King of Spain (1808-1814), the Duro of twenty Reales is known as the Duro de Vellon, and the Duro of eight Reales as the Duro de Plata.
Venetian. The popular, though not the authorized, name for the Zecchino, which was struck at Venice. See Gubber.
Venetians are referred to in the monetary ordinances of the island of St. Helena, for the years 1750, 1819, 1823, 1830, and 1836, as varying in value, and ranging from nine Shillings to nine Shillings and four Pence.
Venezolano. See Bolivar.
Ventein. The Annuaire du Bureau des Longitudes states that this name is sometimes applied to the gold quarter Pistole of Charles III of Spain, dated 1786, etc. It is probably a corruption of Vintem.
Ventina. See Vintina.
Venusthaler. The name given to a silver medallic Tlialer, issued in the city of Magdeburg in 1622. It has on the reverse a representation of Venus and the three Graces. See Madai (5028).
Vereinsmunzen. See Convention Money.
Verfassungsthaler. A name sometimes given to the Convention Thaler, issued by Maximilian Joseph, after he became King of Bavaria in 1806. It was struck in 1818 and has on the reverse a tablet commemorative of the adopted constitution.
Verga. A term used by Italian numismatists to indicate an ingot or stamped bar.
Vermahlungsthaler. A Thaler struck to commemorate a marriage.
Vermont Cents. A copper issue from 1785 to 1788, inclusive, struck before Vermont actually became one of the United States. There are a number of varieties, for details concerning which see Crosby.
Vertugadin. A nickname given to the silver Ecu of five Livres, issued by Louis XV of France in 1715 and later. It bears the figure of the young draped head.
Vessillifero. See Soldino.
Vexator Canadinsis. The name given to several varieties of satirical tokens relating to the administration of Sir James Craig as Governor of Canada from 1807 to 1811. See Breton (pp. 60-62).
Viannare, or Viannense. A small coin of the value of three Deniers, current in Austria, and also in Italy, during the fourteenth century, which was principally struck at Vienna.
Vicessis. A multiple of twenty Asses after the first reduction. It is doubtful, however, whether such a coin was actually struck, or whether it was only a money of account.
Victoriatus. A Roman silver coin, originally issued about B.C. 228, and intended prineipally for foreign commerce. The Victoriati bore on the obverse a head of .Jupiter, and on the reverse a figure of Victory crowning a trophy, from which the name is derived. Its weight and value was three fourths of the Denarius, and equal to the Drachm of Illyricum.
In B.C. 104 the Victoriatus was coined of half the weight of the Denarius and thus took the place of the obsolete Quinarius. It therefore bore, as the mark of value, the letter Q from this time on.
Victory Thaler. See Siegesthaler.
Viente. The jiopular name for the Cuban silver piece of twenty Centavos, introduced in 1915.
Vierchen. This word is used in a general sense for any small coin that represents the fourth part of some standard. It is applied to the fractions of the Brandenburg Groschen struck under Frederick II (1440-1470) at Prenzlau, and to the divisions of the Halbskoter. See Skoter.
Vier Duitstuk. The popular name for the current copper coin of two and one half cents of the Netherlands.
Vierdung. The one fourth of the Mark (q.v.).
Vierer, or Fierer, also called Quadrans and Etschvierer, was a silver coin current in the Holy Roman Empire, Tyrol, and Southern Germany from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century.
It had a value of four Berner (q.v.), hence its name, and was equal to one fifth of a Kreuzer. There is one of Graz, dated as early as 1445. See Frey (No. 72).
Viererplatten. The nickname given to the Austro-Hungarian copper coin of four Kreuzer, which was abolished about 1890.
Vierlander. A name given to the double Gros, when the same type was adopted by four districts or principalities.
Thus Philippe le Bon of Burgundy, and his successor, Charles le Temeraire, struck a Vierlander, current in Brabant, Flanders, Holland, and Hennegau.
Vierling. The popular name for a coin of the value of four Groschen. The term was applied in Westphalia as early as the fifteenth century, and occurs for the issues of Stralsund in 1611, etc.
Vierschildheller. The name given to small coins issued by the Electors of the Rhine provinces during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; they have four shields on the obverse.
Vigintenario. The Italian equivalent of Zwanziger (q.v.), and specially applied to
a coin of twenty Piccoli issued at Merano. See Rivista Italinna Numismatica (xx 419).
Vigo Coinage. The word Vigo occurs under the bust on certain coins of Queen Anne. It is placed there to commemorate the capture, in October, 1702, by Sir George Rooke. of the Spanish galleons at Vigo, from which the bullion was taken, and from which the coins were struck. It occurs with the date 1702 on Shillings only, but with 1703 on Crowns, half Crowns, Shillings, and Sixpences.
In the gold series there are five Guinea pieces. Guineas, and half Guineas with this inscription, dated 1703, 1705, and 1706.
Vikariats Thaler. A type of Thaler, like the Sede Vacante coins, struck during an interregnum. They occur among the Electors of Saxony and those of the Palatinate from 1612 to 1741, and usually have the title VICARIVS as part of the inscription.
Vinkenauge, also called Finkenauge. The name given to a small silver coin which was current in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Pommerania, etc., from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. In Pommeranian archives they are mentioned as early as 1279 as marca denariorum slavicatium. and they appear to have been last struck in Berlin in 1562. They are also
eferred to as Wendische Pfennige, parvi denarii slavicales, or vincones.
Their value varied, but in all cases it seems to have gradually declined from the original standard. Thus in Pommerania it ranged from eighteen to thirty-four to the Bohemian Groschen; in Mecklenburg from eighteen to twenty-four to the Schilling; and in Brandenburg from sixteen to forty to the Groschen.
The etymology of the name is not clear. Some authorities assert that the griffin on the issues of Mecklenburg was taken for a finch, and Dr. P. Friedensburg, in the Blatter fur Munzfreunde 1913 (5183), cites German proverbs showing that a finch, a small bird, is frequently employed to indicate comparisons between small and large objects. Another plausible derivation is based on the belief that the Mecklenburg coins were nicknamed Ogen, from the large eyes in the head of the ox; this, combined with the superior quality of the silver, of which they consist, created the word vienkc (feine) ogen.
Vintem. The name given originally to a silver coin of Portugal, which was issued in the reign of Manuel (1495-1521), and corresponded to the Real.
In the eighteenth century the Vintem was struck in copper, of a value of twenty Reis, for the Portuguese colonies. Of this type there are multiples to twelve Vintems. See Xeraphin.
Vintina. A silver coin of the value of twenty Soldi, issued in Corsica during the Republican rule under General Pasquale Paoli (1762-1768). It is sometimes referred to as the Ventina.
Vis. See Tare.
Vis-a-Vis Type. An expression used by numismatic writers to indicate that the figures or heads on a coin or medal face each other.
Vischepennig. See Pfennig.
Vislino. A silver coin of Ragusa of the value of sixty Grossetti. They were first issued in 1725 with the inscription DVCAT ET SEM. REIP.RHAC., i.e., ducatus et semis, meaning one and one half of the silver
Ducato. The original type had on the obverse the bust of St. Blasius, the patron saint ; this was followed in 1743 by the bust of tlie rector, i.e., the head of the Republic. This design was retained until 1779 with slight variations. The first type was known as the St. Blasius Thaler, the Tallero di San Biagio, and the Vislino, the latter being the name of the saint in Servian. The second variety was called the Ragnsino and the Rektorsthaler, or Tallero Rettoralo. For a detailed account of all these varieties see Resetar, in the Monofshkift der Num. Gesell. in Wien (viii. pp. 203-205).
Viss. A Burmese money of account. See Tical.
Vitalino. A billon coin of Parma, struck'
b.v Odoardo Farnese (1622-1646). which receives
its name from the figure of St. Vitalis,
the patron of the city, on the rever.se.
Viz. See Tare.
Vlieger. See Krabbelaar.
Vlieguyt. An early silver coin of Brabant, issued by Wenceslans and Johanna (1355-1405). It appears to have been a variety of the Groot. See Hevlen, Antwoord op het Vraeg-Stuk, etc." 1787 (p 26).
Vlies. In 1429 Duke Philip of Burgundy instituted the Order of the Golden Flecce (Ordre de la Toisou d'Or), and the cliain of this order is fiojured on both gold and silver coins which receive their names from it.
The Gouden Vlies or Toison d'Or was struck in Brabant in 1409, and the Zilveren Vlies, or Toison d'Argent, appeared in Holland in 1496, and was copied in Brabant. Philip the Good reached his majority in the latter year, and the event was celebrated by the striking of this coin.
It was a double Briquet, of the value of three Stuyvers. Ser Frev (Nos. 443, 445, 494).
Voce Populi Coinage. A variety of copper half Pence and Farthings, issued for Ireland. Pinkerton, in his Essay on Medals, states that "in 1760 there was a prreat scarcity of copper coin in Ireland, upon which a society of Irish gentlemen applied for leave, upon proper conditions, to coin half-pence; which being granted,
those appeared with a very bad portrait of George II., and 'Voce Populi' around it. The bust bears a much greater resemblance to the Pretender; but whether this was a piece of waggery in the engraver, or only arose from his ignorance in drawing, must be left to doubt."
In Lindsay's Coinage of Ireland, 1839, a variety of the coin is depicted with the letter P before the face, thus seemingly confirming Pinkerton 's conjecture. See a detailed account of this coinage contrilnited by Philip Nelson to the British Numismatic Journal (i. 213).
Vodri. An early Indian copper coin, the sixth part of the Dramma (q.r.), or one fourth of the Pana (q.v.). It is also known as the Kakini. See Cunningham (p. 46).
Volpetta. See Armellino.
Vonds Gulden. A former Hungarian money of account, principally used in the cattle trade, and computed at fifty-one Kreuzer, or seventeen Marjase.
Votive Coins. A name given to such Roman coins as record the public prayers or vows for a ruler. They began with the reign of Augustus, and usually have the inscriptions VOTA PVBLICA, VOTA SVSCEPTA DECENNALIA, etc.
Vureysen. See Fewreysen.
Vuurijzer. See Briquet.