4/18/2023 0 Comments French expressionsIn Switzerland, a hundred-sou coin is a five Swiss franc coin and a four sou coin is a twenty Swiss centime coin. " Échanger quatre trente sous pour une piastre" ("to exchange four 30 sous for one piastre") therefore means changing something for an identical thing, as the "piastre" is the common name for the Canadian dollar.Ĭurrent five Swiss centimes Switzerland 15 pence Canadian), and the usage remained after Canada switched currencies. This usage dates from when the word “ sou” was used in French-speaking Lower Canada to refer to the halfpenny coin of the Canadian pound at that time an American quarter was valued at 1 shilling 3 pence Canadian (i.e. The Canadian quarter, valued at 25 cents, is called trente sous ("thirty sous"). Canadian one-cent coins (no longer in circulation) have the vernacular name of " sou noir" ("black sou") in Canadian French. In Canada, the word "sou" is used in everyday language and means the 1/100 division of the Canadian dollar. The last 5-centime coin, a remote souvenir inherited from the " franc germinal", was removed from circulation in the 1940s, but the word "sou" keeps being used (except for the 1960 new franc's five-centime coin which was worth five old francs). Thus, the large bronze 5-centime coin was called " sou" (for example in Balzac or Victor Hugo), the " pièce de cent sous" ("hundred sous coin") meant five francs and was also called " écu" (as in Zola's Germinal). Nevertheless, the term " sou" survived as a slang term for 1/20 of a franc. In 1795, the livre was officially replaced by the franc and the sou became obsolete as an official currency division. In the 18th century ( Ancien Régime) the spelling of sol is adapted to sou so as to be closer to the pronunciation that had previously become the norm for several centuries. Solidus becomes soldus, then solt in the 11th century, then sol in the 12th century. The name evolves as does the rest of the language, from Latin to French. Only members of the money changers corporation could find their way among the equivalences and the many currencies used in Europe at each period, and therefore were unavoidable for most non-local commercial operations. Ĭharlemagne's general principle of 12 denarii worth one sol and of twenty sols worth one pound was eventually declined along many variants according to the alloy used and the dual metal gold: silver sometimes used for some issues. With rare exceptions (such as Saint Louis' "gros" ), the denarius was for a long time in practice the only coin in circulation, with solidi and pounds used only as accounting units. The sou itself was divided into 12 denarii and one denarius was worth 10 asses. The last "sou" : 1939, French five centimes (actual ⌀: 19 mm)įacing a shortage of gold, Charlemagne introduced a new "stabilization" (as devaluations are often called): from then on the solidus no longer represents 1/12 of the Roman gold pound but 1/20 of the Carolingian silver pound instead.
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