Qirsh
Qirsh, Ersh, Gersh, Grush, Kuruş and Grosi are all names for currency denominations in and around the territories formerly part of the Ottoman Empire. The variation in the name stems from the different languages it is used in (Arabic, Ethiopian, Hebrew, Turkish and Greek) and the different transcriptions into the Latin alphabet. The name originally comes from the Italian grosso, as in denaro grosso, a silver coin worth twelve denari.
The original qirsh was a large, 17th century silver piece, similar to the European thalers, issued by the Ottomans. It was worth 40 para. In 1844, following sustained debasement, the gold lira was introduced, worth 100 qirsh.
In Greek, it was known as γρόσι, grosi; plural γρόσια grosia.
As the Ottoman Empire broke up, several successor states retained the qirsh as a denomination. These included Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey itself. Others, including Jordan and Sudan, adopted the qirsh as a denomination when they established their own currencies.
The name of the Groschen (Latin: Grossus, German: Groschen, Italian: grossone, Czech: groš, Polish: grosz, Hungarian: garas, Romanian: groș), a coin used in various German-speaking states as well as some non-German-speaking countries of Central Europe (Bohemia, Poland, the Romanian principalities), is derived from the same origin of the Italian denaro grosso.
See also
- Egyptian pound
- Groschen
- Jordanian dinar
- Kuruş
- Palestine pound
- Saudi riyal
- Sudanese pound
- Turkish lira