Lari (fish hook money)
Encyclopedia
Larin is the name of a class of objects serving as coin
s in areas around the Arabian Sea
. The name is derived from Lar, a Persian
town that according to tradition would have been the first to produce lari. A larin was a piece of silver
wire of about 10 centimeters long, usually folded in two equal parts and shaped like a C, though there are also lari shaped like a J, an I or an S. Lari were stamped with an Arabic
or Persian text, usually the name of the local ruler. The I was most popular among the Arabs and Persians, while the J and S were typical for the island of Ceylon. The latter were known as "koku risi" (silver hook) among the Sinhalese
.
A 17th century larin would weigh about 4.75 grams. It was traditionally tariffed at 5.5 lari to the Spanish colonial piece of eight.
Lari is the root of coin denominations used in Georgia
and the Maldives
.
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s in areas around the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
. The name is derived from Lar, a Persian
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
town that according to tradition would have been the first to produce lari. A larin was a piece of silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
wire of about 10 centimeters long, usually folded in two equal parts and shaped like a C, though there are also lari shaped like a J, an I or an S. Lari were stamped with an Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
or Persian text, usually the name of the local ruler. The I was most popular among the Arabs and Persians, while the J and S were typical for the island of Ceylon. The latter were known as "koku risi" (silver hook) among the Sinhalese
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
.
A 17th century larin would weigh about 4.75 grams. It was traditionally tariffed at 5.5 lari to the Spanish colonial piece of eight.
Lari is the root of coin denominations used in Georgia
Georgian lari
The lari is the currency of Georgia. It is divided into 100 tetri. The name lari is an old Georgian word denoting a hoard, property, while tetri is an old Georgian monetary term used from the 13th century....
and the Maldives
Maldivian laari
The laari is a coin denomination issued by the Maldives as the subdenomiation of the Maldivian rufiyaa since 1960. One rufiyaa is equal to 100 laari...
.