This is an ongoing work (one of those never-ending projects) consisting of a compilation of all known names used for coins from the ancient times to the present. Where possible, a description of coins of that name is given, as well as the most likely origin of the name, including translations. In many cases, links are made to pages which will show various examples of that denomination. Obviously, the images not all-inclusive but hopefully will give the user an idea of what some of the coin denominations looked like and how coins of the same name differ from country to country and through time.

Cagliarese - A name given to coins struck in Cagliari.  They were first struck under Ferdinand the Catholic (1479-1516).

[Italian States-Lombardy and Veneto]

Calvario - A gold coin of Portugal, struck under John III (1521-1557).  It features the Portuguese arms on the obverse and the cross of Calvary on the reverse.

{From Portuguese Calvario Calvary.}

[Portugal]

Candareens - A Chinese weight and money of account equal to 10 cash or 1/100 tael of silver.  As a weight of gold or silver, it was estimated at about 6 grains Troy.

{From Malay kandu-ri.}

[China]

Candarin - Variant form of candareens.

Capellone - Coin equal to a lira in Modena in the 17th Century.

Carlin - Variant form of carlino.

Carlins - Plural of carlin.

Caline - Variant form of carlino.

Carlines - Plural of carline.

Carlini - Plural of carlino.

Carlino - Small silver coin of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, first struck in the 13th century.

{Italian after Charles (Carlo) of Anjou.}

[Italian States-Naples and Sicily]

Carlo -

{From Italian carlino from carlo Charles.}

Carolin d'Or - A gold coin of Bavaria first struck in 1726 as a 10-gulden piece.  Because of its fine content, it was valued at 11 gulden in trade after 1730.

[German States-Bavaria]

Cash - The name of a small coin or weight of money.

{From Sanskrit karsha, a weight of silver or gold equal to 1/400 tul_.  From Singhalese k_si coin.}

[Annam, China, Vietnam]

Castellano - A gold coin of Spain, struck under Ferdinand V and Isabella I (1476-1516).

[Spain]

Cauri - A monetary unit of Guinea, the 100th part of a syli.

Cavalier - The name given in the Low Countries to a coin introduced in Hainaut by Margaret of Constantinople.  It had a value of 2/3 of a gros tournois and twice an English sterling penny.  Also called a ridder.

{From ?? cavalier knight; from the horseman.}

Cavalier d'or -

[Netherlands]

Cavallo - The name given to a small copper coin struck by the kings of Aragon for Naples and Sicily.  They were first issued by Ferdinand I (1458-1494) and had a horse on the reverse.  The device was dropped after the reign of Federico III (1496-1501) but the coin continued to be called cavallo until it was eliminated during the reign of Charles II (1665-1700).  Because of its small value it was usually struck in multiples of two, three, four, six and nine cavalli.

{From Italian and Spanish cavallo horse.}

[Italian States-Naples and Sicily]

Cavalli - Plural of cavallo

Cavalotto -

Cedi - A paper money and monetary unit of Ghana, equal to 100 pesewas.

[Ghana]

Cedid Mahmudiye -

{From Turkish cedid new + mahmudiye mahmudi; See mahmudi.}

[Turkey]

Cedis - Plural of cedi.

Ceitil - A copper coin of Portugal, first issued by John I (1385-1433) with a value of one-sixth real.  The major device was a three-towered castle.

{The coin's name is supposed to be derived from the city of Ceuta, in North Africa, although they were struck in Lisbon and Oporto, as well as in Ceuta.}

[Portugal]

Ceitis - Mentioned in Columbus' journal.

Cent - [Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, British East Caribbean Territories, British North Borneo, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Ceylon, China, Cook Islands, Curacao, Cyprus, East Africa, East Caribbean States, Fiji Islands, French Cochin China, French Indo-China, Guyana, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Malaya, Malaya and British Borneo, Malaysia, Mauritius, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Netherlands East Indies, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Panama, Sarawak, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Straits Settlement, Surinam, Swaziland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United States of America, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe]

Centai

Centas

Centavo -

{From Portuguese cent hundred + avo eenth.  See avo.}

[Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republics, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, India-Portuguese, Indonesia, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, St. Thomas and Prince, Venezuela]

Centecimo -

[Bolivia]

Centesimi - Plural of centesimo.

Centesimo - A coin being the 100th part of another. In Italy it was the one-hundredth part of the lira. [Bolivia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Italy, Panama, Paraguay, Somalia, Uruguay]

Centime -

[Belgian Congo, Belgium, Cameroon, France, French Cochin China, French Indo-China, Germany, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Martinique, Monaco, Morocco, Reunion, Switzerland-Cantons, Tunisia, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Zaire]

Centimo -

[Costa Rica, Mozambique, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, St Thomas and Prince, Spain, Venezuela]

Centu

Cervia - Money of mistura issued by Alberico Cybo, first price of Massa (1559-1623) in 1617.  It was valued at 3 bolognini and carried the figure of a running cerva??.  Thus it was called the cervia and also lupetta.  There also came to be issued multiple of 4 cervie.

{From Italian cerva ??, the figure on the obverse}

[Italian States-Massa]

Cervie- Plural of cervia.

Ceyrek Kurus -

{... + kurus piaster}

[Turkey]

Chaise - The name given to a gold coin of France, sometimes known as the ecu, that portrayed the king seated.

{From French chaise chair or seat.}

[France]

Chakram - A very small silver coin issued by the State of Travencore in southern India.  It was valued at 1/32 rupee or ¼ fanam.

{From Malayan cakram from Sanskrit cakra wheel.}

[Indian States-Travencore]

Charles d'or -

[France]

Chequeen - Variant form of sequin.

Chequin - Variant form of chequeen.

Chervonets - A gold coin of the former Soviet Union with a value of 10 rubles.  It was authorized by a decree in 1922 and minted in the year 1924.  As far as is known, 1924 was the only year it was minted.

{Alteration of Old Russian _ervonyi from Old Polish czerwony, golden.}

[USSR]

Chetrum - A coin and monetary unit of Bhutan, the hundredth part of a ngultrum.

Chetvert - A term referring to a piece of ¼ ruble struck in the 14th century.  In this case, ruble refers to the word that replaced the grivna.

Chiao - Also jiao.  A copper-zinc coin and monetary unit of the People's Republic of China, the tenth part of a yuan, equal to 10 fen.

{From Chinese jiao.]

[China]

Chi'en - [China]

Chimfram - A slang name meaning clipped and given to the one-half real piece of Alfonso V (1438-1481) of Portugal.  It was applied to these coins because of their inferior weight.

[Portugal]

Chinfrao -

Cho Gin -

[Japan]

Chomsih - [Yemen]

Chomsihi - [Yemen]

Chon - Also jun.  A monetary unit of North Korea, the hundredth part of a won.  Also jeon, a monetary unit of South Korea, the hundredth part of a won.

{Korean chon from Chinese; qian, cf sen.  quian unit of weight equal to 5 grams.}

[Korea, Korea-North]

Christian d'or - A gold coin of Denmark, struck under Christian VII (1766-1808) in 1775.  It features the bust of Christian on the obverse and crowned C7 monograms around a triangle on the reverse.  It was also struck by Christian VIII (1840-1848) and Christian IX (1863-1906).

{From Christian, the issuing authority + d'or of gold.}

[Denmark]

Chuchrum - Variant form of chakram.

Chuckrum - Variant form of chakram.

Ciffert -

[German States]

Cifte -

[Turkey]

Cinquin - The cinquin of Naples was valued at five tornesi and equivalent to a quarter of a carlino; those of Sicily, originally of silver but later of copper, were equivalent to half a carlino and valued at five grani.  Also the Grand Masters of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem coined money of silver and copper, called CINQUINE they were valued at five grani and two of which formed the carlino of Malta.

From Italian cinquina a soldier's pay?}

[Italian States-Naples and Sicily]

Cistophori - Plural of cistophorous.

Cistophorous - Any one of several silver coins bearing the sacred basket carried in worship of Dionysus.  Usually given as an adjective as in cistophoric tetradrachm.

{From Latin from Greek kistophorous from kisto from kiste- basket.}

[Greek States]

Colon - [Costa Rica, El Salvador]

Colones

Condor - A former coin of Chile equal to 10 pesos.  It was also a former coin of Ecuador equal to 10 sucres.

[Chile, Ecuador]

Condrin - Variant form of candareens.

Copper - Slang.  The English halfpenny.

[England]

Copeck - Variant form of kopeck.

Cordoba - [Nicaragua]

Cornado - A Spanish silver coin first issued by Alfonso X (1242-1284) of Castile and mostly struck at Toledo.  The obverse bears a crowned bust of the king from which it derives its name.  The reverse device is a three-towered castle.  The coin was gradually debased until it was discontinued early in the 16th century.

{From Spanish corona crown.}

[Spain]

Coroa - A silver coin of Maria II.

[Portugal]

Corona - [Austria, French States]

Coronado - Silver coin.

[Italian States-Naples]

Coronat - A variant name of the polgrosz.

{From Polish coronat? crown, referring to the crown on the obverse.}

[Poland]

Coronato - A name given to the gigliato of Ferrant I (1458-1494) of Naples when the obverse was struck with his crowned bust.

[Italian States-Naples]

Cotrim - A name given to various coins of silver and billion issued by Alfonso V (1438-1481) of Portugal with a device consisting of a crown between two annulets.

[Portugal]

Couronne d'or - A gold coin struck in the Brabant by Spain under Charles V (I) (1543-1554) of Spain until Philip V (1700-1712) of Spain.  It featured a crowned shield.

{From French couronne crown + d'or of gold.}

[German States]

Courte - A copper coin issued by Charles V as Duke of the Brabant.

[German States]

Crazia - From German kreuzer (soldo) cfr the old form crazia.  Money of mistura struck by the Grand Dukes of Toscana beginning with Cosimo I.  It was valued at 5 quattrini and had varieties of weights and values.  There are known pieces of 1/2 crazia and also of two crazie or 10 quattrini.  This name came to be given to some of the coins of the dukes of Urbino and of the Princes of Massa Lunigiana.

Crazie - Plural of crazia.

Creuzer - Variant form of kreuzer.

Creutzer - Variant form of kreuzer.

Croat - A Spanish form of the gros tournois, and the first heavy silver coin struck on the Iberian Peninsula by the Christians.

The croat was first struck by Alfonso III, Count of Barcelona (1285-1291).  This new coin, heavier than the lightweight medieval penny, was probably first minted in  Barcelona rather than elsewhere because of the city's position as a commercial port for the western Mediterranean.  Larger and more valuable silver coins were in demand, and the croat was soon imitated by the inland states of the peninsula, among them the grueso of Navarre and the more famous real of Castile and Leon.

When it was first issued, the croat was about 24 millimeters in diameter and weighed about 3.1 grams—smaller and lighter than the gros tournois, but a considerable improvement compared to the penny (or dinero, as it was known in that region).

Although the ruler's titles are given clockwise from a cross at 12:00, a common medieval practice, the portrait, while crude, is in profile, a distinctly uncommon practice in medieval Europe at the time.  A profile portrait allows the die-cutter to depict more individuality than a facing rendition does.  In any event, this kind of portraiture on the Catalan croat indicates the area was moving out of the medieval age and into the modern one more rapidly than much of Europe.

Yet the reverse design of the croat remains medieval.  It shows a simple cross with pellets and circles in its angles.  The reverse legend gives the name of the city where the coin was minted.

The croat was struck until the beginning of the eighteenth century, with only minor changes in its design.  Issues minted after the death of Philip II (1556-1598), however, were more often called reales, even though their designs differed from those on other Spanish coins of that name.

[Spain]

Croun of Wecht - A crown of full or standard weight.

[Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue from the Twelfth Century to the end of the Seventeenth]

{From croun crown + wecht weight; crown of weight}

[Scotland]

Crown -

[Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Ascension, Australia, Bermuda, Biafra, Cyprus, England, Great Britain, Guernsey, Saint Helena, Ireland, Jamaica, Jersey, Malawi, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Tristan da Cunha, Turks and Caicos Islands, Zimbabwe]

Crown of the Rose - A gold coin of England, struck under Henry VIII (1509-1547).  It had the crowned arms of England on the obverse and a Rose, initials and floriated cross on the reverse.

[England]

Cruitzer - Variant form of kreuzer.

Cruizer - Variant form of kreuzer.

Cruzado - A gold coin believed first issued by Alfonso V (1438-1481) of Portugal when he was preparing to go on a crusade against the Turks.  It was 23 3/4 carats fine and weighed 72½ grains, and it had a value of 400 reis.  In 1643, the cruzado was struck in silver.  The obverse device was a crowned shield bearing the arms of Portugal and the reverse bore the cross of St George.

{From Portuguese cruzado cross, referring to the cross of St George on the reverse.}

[Portugal]

Cruzado Nova - The name for the modified cruzado when it was struck in silver rather than gold after 1643.

{From Portuguese cruzado cruzado + nova new.}

[Portugal]

Cruziero - [Brazil]