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Liganda website update

Started by Harald, November 13, 2010, 04:55:10 PM

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Harald

On my website http://www.liganda.ch you can find two recent additions.

The overview pages on monetary history now comprise all countries, no more "under construction" (and they still are a challenge for non German speakers  ;D).

In addition I have added a section on the etymology of currency names. It also contains explanations for a lot of names that are not of Latin and Greek origin, and which are therefore missing in the standard sources. In most cases the etymology is taken from primary sources (thanks to websites like http://www.lexilogos.com), not from the existing compilations. So, the pages should add something new to a field which is otherwise very well covered.

BTW, my favourite one is the case of "ekuele/ewele" (Equatorial Guinea). Apparently, the name was meant to be "ekpele" or "ekpwele", but got misspelled or distorted in the process ("kp" represents an implosive p-sound, that is unfamiliar to European languages, and the responsibles were probably Spanish speakers). Once you know this, you find out that the word stands for a type of primitive money of the Fang people, and you realise that the plural of the currency should probably be spelled "bikpwele" instead of "bipkwele".

Hope you enjoy (at least as much as I did when compiling the stuff).
Cheers
--
Harald


http://www.liganda.ch (monetary history & numismatic linguistics)

Afrasi

Many thanks! A lot of work, very helpful for all world coin collectors. :D
I will give some comments via your page about Ethiopia in the next days.
There are some coin issuing countries I miss: The sultanates of Kilwa and of Mogadischo for example.

Gerhard Schön

Harald,
congratulations to your very nicely made Numismatic Etymology listing. However, I do not agree with your derivation of the "Batzen":
QuoteDerived maybe from [DEU] "Batzen" = cake, patch (despicable for a low-valued coin); Note: later re-interpreted as adaptation of [DEU] "petz" = bear (coin showing the coat of arms of the city of Berne).
This type of coin was issued as a plappart (blafard, "pale white coin", definitely not low-valued, cake or patch, filth or mud) by the city of Berne in 1492, and only a few years later, when it spread outside of Berne, it became known as "rollabasso" (Rollenbatzen) which means "rollender Bär" or "Brummbär", quite obviously after the coat of arms it depicted.
Gerhard

Harald

thanks Gerhard,
in fact I have found quite a few explanations for "batzen" (basically one per dictionary), including the connection with (Italian) basso = low.
apparently the name was not an official one, but appeared somehow from colloquial speech. so no one knows the exact origin anymore.
I did not check the relation with the plappard, so far.

BTW, in Berne the bear is called "Mutz", while "Petz" not used is Swiss German (maybe it was in the 15th century). so, the claim that this
is a re-interpretation (or a beautification) of a rather dubious naming seems plausible to me.

cheers
--
Harald
http://www.liganda.ch (monetary history & numismatic linguistics)

Gerhard Schön

Quote from: Harald on November 17, 2010, 06:49:14 PMBTW, in Berne the bear is called "Mutz", while "Petz" not used is Swiss German (maybe it was in the 15th century). so, the claim that this
is a re-interpretation (or a beautification) of a rather dubious naming seems plausible to me.

Harald,
this is a good point. For the citizens of Berne, there was not more bear in the new coin that in any previous ones, so there would have been no reason for them to nickname exactly this coin type after a design element that was common to all of them. In fact, the new coins were named "(Rollen)batzen" outside of Berne and outside the Confederacy, soon after they spread there.
Gerhard

Harald

Meanwhile I have checked a reference on medieval coins. the first batzen was indeed not a low-valued coin. on the contrary, it was maybe even outside the reach for an average 15th century citizen. so, no reason for funny names...

Perhaps the bear really is the best candidate for the origin of the coin name. on the other hand, all Bernese coins from bracteat to thaler depict the bear. so, it's difficult to explain without handwaving why only one denomination got named after it.

anyway, thanks for pointing this out to me (and continue to check the list  ;D). I'll update the website.

cheers
--
Harald
http://www.liganda.ch (monetary history & numismatic linguistics)

Gerhard Schön

This is because this particular denomination circulated so widely outside the Confederacy, and there, it was a new coin size which perfectly amended the existing range of nominals, so it needed a name.

Quote from: Harald on November 20, 2010, 02:37:32 PMPerhaps the bear really is the best candidate for the origin of the coin name. On the other hand, all Bernese coins from bracteat to thaler depict the bear, so it's difficult to explain why only one denomination got named after it.

Harald

http://www.liganda.ch (monetary history & numismatic linguistics)