Who can identify the fruit on these coins?

[<k>]

Lebanon, 5 livres, 1978.

What are the four fruits to the left of the bananas?

I believe that the fruit to the right of the banana is a pear.


Also, what are the two flowers at centre right?

[<k>]

Dominican Republic, 10 centavos, 1989.

Botanist Rita Purdy has tentatively identified these fruits as follows:

1. Aubergine (definitely the way they connect to the stalk with the overlying leafy bit)
2. Bell pepper or large chilli pepper
3. Possibly a Spanish lime or limoncillo - see images on the website above.
4. Tamarind
5. Possibly guava
6. Papaya

An old quote from our administrator Figleaf:

I think 2 is a Cuban pepper (Cubanella), which is a bell pepper variety.

[<k>]

São Tomé e Príncipe, 2000 dobras, 1997.

The bananas are obvious, but who knows what the numbered plants and fruits are?

Perhaps the leaves provide a clue?




Mulberry.

I found Artocarpus altilis - the mulberry - on a stamp of São Tomé and Príncipe.

It think that identifies fruit number 1 in my image. The leaves look right.

[THCoins]

Your fruit nr 1 may be from the Mulberry family, but i think this is generally known as breadfruit ?

[<k>]

Your fruit nr 1 may be from the Mulberry family, but i think this is generally known as breadfruit ?

From Wikipedia:

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry and jackfruit family (Moraceae).

So they are the same item but with different common names.

[THCoins]

So they are the same item but with different common names

Not really, Mulberry is a name used for a totally different type of fruit :

Similarly; a plum is a member of the rose family, but it is not called a rose.

[<k>]

Not really, Mulberry is a name used for a totally different type of fruit :

Similarly; a plum is a member of the rose family, but it is not called a rose.

I see. Well, you know much more about this than I do. Was it your degree subject?

[THCoins]

Was it your degree subject?

Nope, but i did study biology for a year before switching to medicine. Taxonomy was not really my favourite subject. Sometimes still have bad dreams about the huge amount of different grass species i had to memorize and be able to identify. 

(The lower flower in your Lebanese specimen could be a Damascus rose, which is widely cultivated in the region for its fragrant oil)

[<k>]

Lebanon, 1 pound, 1968.

This one shows oranges, grapes, and an apple.

I found an old document about F.A.O. issues of 1968.

[<k>]

Lebanon, 5 livres, 1978.

I joined a forum about tropical fruit this evening.

I asked about the fruit shown on this coin design above.

I got an answer pretty quickly:

From left to right, I interpret the fruits as:

Pomegranate | Lemon | Grapes | Fig? | Weird flat seed pod thingies x3 | Generic stone fruit (apple or peach or whatever is native to Lebanon)

I replied:

Wonderful, thank you. I'm sure I see some bananas there, though.


Another person commented:

They could be bananas, but they don't really look like bananas to me. Too straight and they aren't connected together in a bunch like you'd expect bananas to be.

And another added:

I put my money on dates.

I replied:

Dates? Hmm. They look a bit too thin and curved to my eye.

[<k>]

NZ numismatist Martin Purdy says his wife Rita thinks kaffir lime (for the post above) instead of lemon.

[<k>]

Lebanon, 5 livres, 1978.

The tropical fruit people are giving more guesses.

Some think that's quince beneath the grapes.


Some think carob for the long thinnish things.

They are at bottom right - I initially thought they were bananas.

[FosseWay]

Could the cucumber-shaped things be cucumbers?

[<k>]

Could the cucumber-shaped things be cucumbers?

Is that a leading question, by any chance? Apparently they do grow in Lebanon.

[Figleaf]

My wife, who is a great cook , believes the shape below the grapes could be a peach. She quotes the 1 livre as evidence. All the fruit on that coin occurs on the 5 livres also and the peach is much clearer.

Peter